Smithwick Tribunal team 'has met three senior ex-IRA members'

The Smithwick Tribunal legal team has met three former senior members of the IRA as part of its work, it was revealed today.

The opening remarks are being delivered today at the inquiry, which was set up in 2005 to investigate allegations of Garda or State collusion in the murder of two senior RUC officers by the IRA in 1989.

The inquiry, which has cost €8m to date and has been given a time limit of the end of November for its completion, will begin hearing from witnesses for the first time later this week.

Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Bob Buchanan were ambushed and shot dead by the IRA on Monday, March 20, 1989 on the Edenappa Road just north of the border near Jonesboro in Co Armagh.

They were returning from a meeting in Dundalk garda station.

In her opening remarks today, senior counsel for the Tribunal Mary Laverty told the inquiry that members of the Tribunal's legal team have held face-to-face meetings with three former IRA personnel.

One of the three had a command role in the ambush, she said.

The inquiry was also told today that the British authorities hold relevant documents which have not yet been handed over.

So far, 214 potential witnesses have been interviewed by the inquiry team. Some former RUC officers have chosen not to cooperate.