Donegal towns were IRA hotbeds, Morris told

Two of the main towns in Co Donegal were prime locations for on-the-run IRA personnel during the height of the terrorist campaign during the 1980s and 1990s, the Morris Tribunal probe of Garda corruption allegations heard today.

Long-time detective James Leheny said the area around Letterkenny and Buncrana had then been home to members of the IRA's southern command who had been “transferred to border areas on active service” by the organisation.

The now-retired detective sergeant made the assertion during his third day’s evidence to the continuing Morris inquiry.

He reported that there had been five known female IRA activists in the Letterkenny-Buncrana district during the time in question, adding: “They were more dedicated and active on the border than male members of the IRA.”

Mr Leheny, who has repeatedly spelled out his view to the tribunal that alleged IRA informer Adrienne McGlinchey – a central figure in the investigation - was not in reality in the terror movement said, as well “these girls weren’t going around drawing unwanted attention to themselves – like Ms McGlinchey was.”

The tribunal – chaired by former High Court President Mr Justice Frederick Morris – is currently examining a range of allegations about garda operations in Co Donegal during the 1990s, claiming that Ms McGlinchey, together with two currently-suspended detectives, Garda Noel McMahon, Superintendent Kevin Lennon prepared explosives for subsequent use in false garda arms finds.

The two officers have both denied those claims, and Ms McGlinchey has insisted that she was never an informer.

Mr Leheny today rejected suggestions that he was saying Noel McMahon and Kevin Lennon had been parties to a con-job when they operated as handlers of Ms McGlinchey and her friend Yvonne Devine.

But he again made clear his view that Ms McGlinchey had not been a true member of the IRA – or a reliable informer.

He maintained that at one point Kevin Lennon and Noel McMahon had been saying that the Letterkenny woman was an IRA figure and that their superiors had “firmly believed it.”

At the same time, other detectives then based in Buncrana, had simply not believed that view – which prompted an official “hands-off” policy towards arresting Ms McGlinchey, even when she was found in possession of incriminating materials – and, as a result, there had been a lot of confusion within the Co Donegal force.

The ex-sergeant referred to an incident when he had confronted Detective Garda McMahon and grabbed the lapels of his jacket, and “a combination of factors” that led him to believe that the two officers were “attempting to set me up with a view to having me charged before a court on a trumped-up charge, or forcing me into taking retirement.”

But he told the tribunal, too, that he had once regarded Noel McMahon as “great detective.”

He was reliable and capable when he encountered him while serving in the same unit in Buncrana in 1995, and before that he had found him to be efficient while a young uniformed guard.

Mr Leheny added: “When he was free of pressure from family matters and not on the drink, I would have called him a great detective.

“We were in the one unit, working together. I had no problem with him. He had a good attention to detail and maintained his files.

“I felt he was a reliable man at that time, and when requested, he would do anything without hesitation.”

In earlier evidence, Mr Leheny said Kevin Lennon would have soared to highest ranks of the Garda Siochána but for his involvement with Ms McGlinchey.

Today he repeated his one-time admiration of the superintendent, saying he had expert knowledge of the law and a dedication to duty, declaring “I had no problem with him at that time.”

Later, though, Garda McMahon had indicated he had information that could lead to the superintendent’s suspension “in 20 minutes”.

And Mr Leheny dismissed as “totally untrue,” suggestions that he had been “pestering” Noel McMahon for “dirt” on Kevin Lennon.

The inquiry recently returned to the explosives dimension of the allegations against the gardai after a gap of four months.

In the meantime, the tribunal has looked into separate allegations, centring on controversy over the mystery roadside death in Donegal seven years ago of Raphoe cattle dealer Richie Barron.

That module of the process has now been adjourned until the New Year, and other areas are due to be dealt with later.

The tribunal was put in place by the Oireachtas almost two years ago to inquire into a wide-ranging series of claims about improper garda activities in the Co Donegal division.

The proceedings opened earlier this year, and, in all, the investigation is expected to go on for at least two years.