Top Garda refuses to give tip-off details

One of Ireland’s most senior gardaí refused today to reveal in court the source of confidential information which led to the arrest of a former IRA chief wanted for a violent kidnapping.

Assistant Garda Commissioner Dermot Jennings claimed privilege at Dublin’s Special Criminal Court when asked by Brendan McFarlane’s barrister who tipped him off that the Maze prison escapee would be travelling on the Dublin/Belfast bus in January 1998.