Report into Carthy shooting due soon, Dáil told
A long-awaited report into the fatal shooting of John Carthy by gardaí in Co Longford over six years ago is due shortly, the Dáil heard today.
Mr Carthy locked himself into the family home in Abbeylara with a shotgun and sparked a 25-hour garda siege in April 2000.
As the stand-off entered its second day, Carthy emerged from the house, ignored orders to drop his weapon and was shot four times by two Emergency Response Unit members.
Tánaiste Mary Harney, representing the Taoiseach during today’s Order of Business, said the Barr Report into the death will be published shortly.
Mr Justice Robert Barr heard evidence from 169 witnesses during 208 sittings of his inquiry, which concluded in December 2004.
Mr Justice Barr originally said he intended to publish his findings in June 2005, but it was delayed to the following September.
Raising the issue in the Dáil today, Labour leader Pat Rabbitte said: “It’s six years now since the shooting of John Carthy in Abbeylara. I first raised the question of the Barr Report almost two years ago and a number of times since then and I’ve been told by the Taoiseach that the report would be published in March.”
He asked Tánaiste Mary Harney why the document has not been published and if there was a difficulty with it.
Ms Harney said: “I don’t know when that is going to government. I’m not in a position to say but we are expecting it shortly.”
She said the intention was to publish the report and act on its findings.
Mr Rabbitte also queried the publication date of the Dalton Report commissioned into an alleged doping cover-up in Bord na gCon.
