Gardaí compared to Mafia at tribunal
Gardaí laid siege to a Donegal nightclub in the late 1990s, harassing and intimidating staff and customers in a manner worse than the Mafia, the Morris Tribunal heard today.
Michael McConnell, nephew of Raphoe publican Frank McBrearty Senior, said gardaí targeted the family and their business after the October 1996 killing of cattle dealer Richie Barron.
Mr McConnell’s brother, Mark, and their cousin Frank McBrearty Junior were wrongly suspected of the death by gardaí.
Mr McConnell said the Mafia would not have acted as the gardaí did.
“It [the nightclub] was under siege from the guards,” he said. “There were checkpoints up everywhere.
“They never left the nightclub. They were camped inside it... It was the worst time of our lives. ”It was terrible. The Mafia wouldn’t do it.“
The tribunal is investigating claims the McBreartys, their extended family, business and staff were the victims of orchestrated harassment by gardaí over the botched Barron death probe.
It is alleged gardaí targeted the family’s Raphoe nightclub for excessive liquor licensing law inspections, sometimes two or three times nightly, from January 1997 onwards.
The Barron killing was later ruled an unsolved hit-and-run and Mark McConnell and Mr McBrearty Jnr were cleared of any wrongdoing.
Under questioning from tribunal barrister Tony Barr SC, Mr McConnell said gardaí set up checkpoints at either side of the town, stopping and harassing customers when the club emptied.
“It was just every night, when you came out of he dance hall there would have been checkpoints at either side of the town,” he said.
“The whole objective was to stop people coming [to the club]. The dogs in the street knew that... People never came back to Frank’s.
“They never came back to the place because of the intimidation and the harassment,” he said.
Mr McConnell said it was the darkest time the family had ever lived through.
“It was like a black cloud over the place,” he said. “You just felt you had nowhere to turn.
“They were out to nail us. It was like the whole force of the law came down on top of us.
“It was a frightening experience,” he added.
