Tribunal: Complaints board chair's regret at deferral of corruption probe
The former chair of the Garda Complaints Board today said he regretted not being able to fully investigate claims of corruption and harassment among members in Donegal.
Seamus McKenna SC – who was the final witness to give evidence on day 685 of the Morris Tribunal – said although it looked bad that they deferred a decision to take action, he was glad they did not come to the wrong outcome.
“In a sense we had failed because in a way we couldn’t do what we wanted to do, which was reach a conclusion,” said Mr McKenna.
“While I’m sorry we couldn’t, on the powers that we had, come to a conclusion, I am very glad we didn’t come to a wrong one because it probably would have been a very wrong one in this case,” he said.
The McBrearty family claimed they were the victims of an orchestrated campaign of garda harassment after the death of Raphoe cattle dealer Richie Barron in October 1996.
More than 60 complaints were made to the board between March 1997 and October 2001 after officers wrongly suspected Frank McBrearty Jnr and his cousin Mark McConnell killed Mr Barron. It was later ruled he was the victim of a hit-and-run.
Mr McKenna said after the original complaints were filed the case developed a life of its own, and became the biggest one to ever come before the board.
He said the board was frequently provided with progress reports from Chief Supt John Carey, the senior Garda appointed to investigate many of the complaints, because they were all concerned about it.
However, Mr McKenna said he was also concerned at the potential for an “appalling vista” that the Donegal cases presented.
“Not only was there some guards in Donegal who were corrupt but there was a large conspiracy – if what McBrearty said was true – who were engaged in a conspiracy to pervert the course of justice,” he said.
The board met to consider the complaints in May 1999, but deferred a decision pending the outcome of several district court cases and an internal Garda investigation led by assistant commissioner Kevin Carty.
The McBreartys eventually withdrew their claims because of the length of time it was taking the Board to reach a decision.
At the end of today’s sitting, Tribunal Chairman Mr Justice Frederick Morris said around 1,000 witnesses had given evidence at the hearing since it started in March 2003 -when they estimated it would last just 18 months.
“God help us, how naive we were,” he said.
He paid tribute to the tribunal staff, his senior counsel, investigators, researchers, the Garda Commissioner and his legal team for their work over the past five and three quarter years.
Then, in the famous words of Bob Geldof after Live Aid, Mr Justice Morris finished: “That’s it then.”
However, the chairman’s work will continue into the New Year.
Submissions on the two final modules – harassment and garda complaints – will be made to the tribunal later this week, while up to five reports are expected next Spring.
