Morris report gardaí entitled to retire on full pensions

The two senior serving gardaí criticised by the Morris Tribunal this week are reportedly entitled to take early retirement on full pensions.

Reports this morning said Superintendent Joe Shelley and Superintendent John McGinley could both choose this option rather than face dismissal by the Government as they had each racked up more than 30 years of service.

Shelley and McGinley were among four senior gardaí singled out by Justice Frederick Morris in his report into the investigation of the death of cattle dealer Richie Barron in Co Donegal in 1996.

The other two officers - Chief Superintendent Denis Fitzpatrick and Superintendent John Fitzgerald - have both retired from the force.

Justice Morris concluded that the investigation into Mr Barron's death in a hit-and-run accident near Raphoe was "utterly negligent" and that gardaí had tried to frame two innocent men for a murder that never happened.