Legal aid row puts Morris Tribunal in doubt

The future of the marathon inquiry into allegations of Garda corruption in Co Donegal was in doubt tonight in a major new row over legal aid.

The Morris Tribunal is due to resume in Dublin tomorrow, but a dozen key witnesses have withdrawn after failing to get money to pay their lawyers.

One of them, Frank McBrearty Snr whose son was once questioned about the apparent hit-and-run death of cattle dealer Richie Barron, declared: “I am prepared to go to jail or go on hunger strike to get justice.”

The judicial investigation which began in March last year could take at least another three years to complete.

Mr McBrearty’s son Frank Jnr and other important witnesses due to testify, pulled out after being again told legal aid would not be available to them until the inquiry ended, even though legal representatives for the gardaí involved are being paid out of state funds.

It was a Garda investigation into Mr Barron’s death in October 1996 during which members of the McBrearty family in Raphoe were questioned, which led to the corruption claims.

The inquiry has been split into a series of modules, including one involving the alleged Garda informer Adrienne McGlinchey.

Mr McBrearty who refused to accept a €150 cheque to cover travelling expenses in advance of tomorrow’s resumed hearing said: “I don’t know if this tribunal can continue without us. We are innocent – that has been proven – and have suffered enough.

“Yet nobody, except for our legal team, has done anything to help us. I fought for this tribunal, but it’s now up to the judge to go to the Government. Every citizen in this country is entitled to the benefit of the judicial process, including legal aid. We need our lawyers to be paid, in the same way the gardaí are paying theirs.

“But I’m prepared to go to jail, to go on hunger strike, for myself, my family and for everyone else in this country to make sure nothing like this happens again. Somebody has got to make a stand. The Government has its responsibilities.”

Frank McBrearty Jnr gave evidence to the tribunal in July last year when he confirmed he and a cousin were treated as suspects by gardaí who at one time believed Mr Barron was murdered.

But the deputy State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy and a number of British experts said they believed Mr Barron died as a result of head injuries caused by a motor vehicle collision.

Nobody from the Morris Tribunal was available for comment tonight.