Two senior gardaí retire in wake of Morris report
Two senior gardaí criticised in the second Morris Tribunal report are to quit the force.
A garda spokesman confirmed that Superintendent Joseph Shelly and Detective Superintendent John McGinley will be retiring, following a meeting with the Garda Commissioner.
A garda statement said: “On Tuesday 7th June 2005, Superintendent Joseph Shelly and Detective Superintendent John McGinley met the Garda Commissioner, Noel Conroy, at Garda Headquarters.
“During the course of this meeting, both officers gave notice of their intention to retire from An Garda Siochana. These retirements will take effect from the 31st July 2005.”
The revelation comes just days after the second report from the Tribunal, which is investigating complaints against officers in the Donegal division of the gardaí, was issued.
At least 10 garda officers were strongly criticised in Judge Frederick Morris’s report into the death of Donegal cattle dealer Richie Barron.
Judge Morris, who headed the Tribunal, found the investigation was “prejudiced, tendentious and utterly negligent in the highest degree”.
He singled out Chief Superintendent Denis Fitzpatrick, Superintendent John Fitzgerald, Detective Superintendent Joseph Shelley and Detective Inspector John McGinley who “all share in various degrees the burden of fault for this matter.”
The judge also detailed a trail of mistakes and lies committed by officers which prevented the investigation reaching a successful conclusion.
The serving officers, Supt Shelley, who was working in Westmeath, and Supt McGinley, who was in Galway, were two of the four senior officers who headed the investigation into the death of Mr Barron. The investigation into the 1996 death was branded “utterly negligent” by the tribunal.
They were also criticised for destroying key documents relating to the original investigation in Donegal.
A total of 30 recommendations were tabled by Judge Morris in a bid to address failings in the force.
The Government and the Garda Commissioner had been considering the future of the gardaí implicated in the Morris report.
The Garda Commissioner admitted that An Garda Siochana had been shamed by the lying and corruption of some of its officers in Donegal.
Justice Minister Michael McDowell had said that an impenetrable jungle of lies and deceit had swamped the botched garda investigation into the death.
Mr McDowell said the Morris Tribunal had uncovered a web of negligence which only surfaced after the inquiry team shattered a wall of obstruction.
The judge found that gardaí were “consumed” with the idea that publican Frank McBrearty Jnr and his cousin Mark McConnell were guilty of the murder of Mr Barron and tried to frame them.
A debate on the first and second interim reports will be held in the Dail and Seanad later this month.
After last summer’s first report, Superintendent Kevin Lennon was sacked while another superintendent and a chief superintendent retired.
The Garda Commissioner also dismissed a number of gardaí.
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