Marie Carthy 'not surprised, but disappointed'

The sister of John Carthy, who was shot during a siege in Co Longford by garda marksmen has said she is 'not surprised, but very disappointed' at today's High Court ruling in favour of members of the Garda Siochana

Thirty six Garda members earlier won a High Court challenge against an Oireachtas Sub-Committee Inquiry into the controversial shooting John Carthy by members of their emergency response unit last year.

The court ruled that the sub-committee was acting outside its powers, did not have the right to make findings of fact adverse to the good name or reputation of citizens and did not comply with the requirements of natural and constitutional justice.

The directive - which was interpreted as implying a threat to the future of all similar investigations - followed a three-day hearing earlier this year of a case against the inquiry, launched by 36 gardai caught up in the probe.

The affair centres on the death of John Carthy, 27, who was shot by gardai outside his home in Abbeylara, Co Longford, in April, 2000, following a siege that lasted more than 24 hours.

Mr Carthy was shot dead as he left his house carrying a gun.

The Oireachtas Sub-Committee Inquiry was initiated after complaints about the manner of the shooting by Mr Carthy’s family.

After today’s court ruling - which is likely to be challenged in the Supreme Court - the dead man’s sister, Marie Carthy, said she was ‘‘not surprised, but very disappointed’’ at the decision.

Ms Carthy has always maintained that her brother’s death was unnecessary and that he did not pose a threat to Gardai.

She added: ‘‘It does not make sense, we were happy with the work this committee was doing.

‘‘It had raised an awful lot of important questions that needed to be answered - and still need to be answered, and we would like to thank them for the work they have done.’’

Ms Carthy called on the Government to launch a full public inquiry into the shooting ‘‘sooner, rather than later, so that all of these questions can be answered’’.

PJ Stone, of the Garda Representative Association said the judgement had vindicated the gardai, and backed calls for a judicial inquiry for the sake of both his members and the Carthy family.

He said: ‘‘It is a fact that this has been dragged on for so long by politicians, who should in the first instance not be putting their noses into it anyway.

‘‘I hope that rather than wasting time going to the Supreme Court, the Government will now set up an inquiry so the matter can be dealt with satisfactorily.

Alan Shatter, a Fine Gael member of the committee involved, said the consequences of the judgement created a major constitutional crisis - and demanded an appeal to the Supreme Court.

He added: ‘‘If that is unsuccessful, then there will have ultimately to be a referendum on the issue.’’