Inquiry into Real IRA man’s shooting by gardaí in 1996

An inquiry into the fatal shooting by gardaí of a Real IRA member during the course of an armed robbery almost 20 years ago is to begin in Dublin this week.

The commission of investigation into the death of Ronan Mac Lochlainn in Ashford, Co Wicklow, in May 1998, opens for public hearings tomorrow, and the evidence of 85 witnesses is expected to be heard over the next two months.

The inquiry was established after Mac Lochlainn’s partner, Gráinne Nic Gibb, took a case against the State to the European Court of Human Rights over its alleged failure to carry out an effective official probe.