Garda Sgt detained in anti-corruption inquiry

A Garda Detective Sergeant has been arrested in connection with the illegal possession of a firearm in Co Donegal.

The arrest was made by a team of detectives conducting an ongoing investigation into allegations of police corruption in the county.

The Garda, who was based in the county, was picked up at 9.30am and is being held under the Offences Against the State Act.

He has been suspended from duty by Garda Commissioner Pat Byrne and it is understood he had been on sick leave for some time.

Under the terms of the legislation, he can be detained for up to 72 hours and then must be released or charged.

A police spokeswoman said: "Two years ago the Garda commissioner appointed Assistant Commissioner Kevin Carty to investigate alleged irregularities in the Donegal division.

"There are many different allegations. A number of men were charged earlier this month and some officers have been suspended."

The ongoing Carty inquiry produced a report last July which is with the director of public prosecutions but no members of the police force have yet been charged.

The complex inquiry is understood to centre around the way police handled a investigation of a 1996 murder, the alleged splitting-up of arms finds and the movement of a hoax bomb across the border.

Earlier this month, four Donegal men were charged with making false statements to police and wasting police time between November 1996 and July 1997.

Less than a fortnight ago, Commissioner Byrne said he would pursue all aspects of the "comprehensive" internal inquiry.

He added: "I take this very, very seriously and that is manifest in the levels of officers who have been sent to carry out investigations on alleged criminality and also into alleged breaches of discipline. I know it is a long time but there is due process."