A shopkeeper in Raphoe gives a straight answer when asked about the McBrearty affair that has dominated local and national news headlines over recent days. "We're just fed up of it all. Everybody is down on Raphoe, and it has had a terrible effect on this town."

His comments are echoed again and again. While Opposition parties united this week in calling for a tribunal of inquiry into allegations of serious Garda misconduct in Co Donegal, there seems little appetite in Raphoe for a prolonged public examination of the affair.

People would prefer if it could be sorted out quickly. They do not want to be hearing about Raphoe on the news headlines in a year's time. One man says a tribunal could drag on for years and would "tear the heart out of the community". Few would relish the thought of giving evidence, and it is feared a tribunal could prove divisive in the town.

Raphoe is a small place and everybody knows the two families involved, the Barrons and the McBreartys. There is sympathy for the ordeal the Barron family has been through since Mr Richie Barron's body was found on a roadside outside the town in October 1996. Within a few weeks of his death, a murder inquiry was launched and members of the McBrearty family were brought in for questioning.

As news emerged of allegations against garda∅ and of various inquiries, the Barrons feel the attention was shifted away from his death. Finally, this July, after giving permission years earlier, the family had to watch as Mr Barron's remains were exhumed to be examined by State pathologist Dr John Harbison.

They have still not seen his report but were told he had concluded that the injuries were consistent with a traffic accident. However it has now emerged that Dr Harbison's report was not as conclusive as was first suggested. In the Dβil this week, Justice Minister Mr O'Donoghue said "there is no conclusive evidence to indicate how the deceased met his death".

Dr Harbison had expressed the view that the injuries "could be consistent with his being struck by a vehicle" but acknowledged that another pathologist could take a different view.

A solicitor for the Barron family, Mr Paudge Dorrian, has now sought a copy of the report and is also seeking facilities to allow an independent forensic pathologist to carry out a further examination on parts of the body removed during the exhumation. Mr Dorrian said that if this permission was not granted, he would take the matter to the High Court.

A daughter of Mr Barron, Ms Deirdre McGlinchey, told The Irish Times that the family could not get answers from anybody. "We're asking questions, but nobody wants to tell you anything." On the question of a tribunal of inquiry, she said the family would welcome anything that would establish the truth of her father's death, but said they would be concerned that it would "drag on forever".

She said that based on the injuries her father had suffered and the report she read from the pathologist at Letterkenny General Hospital, she still believed he was murdered.

There is also sympathy in Raphoe for the McBreartys, who are pursuing legal actions against the State for false imprisonment, malicious arrest and breach of constitutional rights.

Since an inquiry was set up under Asst Commissioner Kevin Carty in March 1999 to examine these and other allegations against members of the Garda in Co Donegal, the public has seen little obvious progress. Five civilians have been charged with giving false information and a sergeant has been charged with unlawful possession of a firearm. One of the civilians has since failed to appear in court and a bench warrant has been issued for his arrest.

There is now a confusing array of allegations, covering issues from the handling of the McBreaty investigation to claims that certain garda∅ stole and hid caches of explosives to get credit for finds.

In addition to the Carty inquiry, Asst Commissioner Fachtna Murphy conducted an investigation into allegations, communicated to Mr Jim Higgins and Mr Brendan Howlin, which related to the inquiry into the McBrearty affair.

A separate inquiry was conducted by a chief superintendent in Letterkenny into allegations made by a garda about the original investigation.

Members of the Carty team insist that events have to take their course and that certain cases have to be dealt with before others can be initiated.

They point out that in some aspects of the investigation, described as "a tangled web", it might not be possible to pursue criminal proceedings because potential witnesses might not be seen as credible. Mr O'Donoghue responded to Opposition demands for a tribunal of inquiry by appointing a barrister, Mr Shane Murphy, "to examine all the relevant papers and the progress on these investigations generally with a view to my receiving expert independent advice as to whether there are measures that might now be taken to bring matters to finality sooner rather than later".

He said the Attorney General had advised against a tribunal because of pending civil and criminal proceedings, and an offer from the McBreartys to freeze their actions did not change his view.

A member of the Carty team said he believed the review of documents by Mr Murphy would vindicate their work, contrary to suggestions that his appointment represented a lack of confidence in the inquiry.

However the irony of this week's events is that the Minister's decision and the various Garda investigations were overtaken in the most dramatic fashion by the McBreartys' High Court actions.

In an affidavit, Mr Frank McBrearty made the most serious allegations against three named senior garda∅. Because of the nature of the court proceedings, the three didn't even get an opportunity to defend themselves and will have to wait for a further court hearing to do so.

Information and allegations are now coming into the public domain regardless of what the Minister or the garda∅ do. And this information is raising serious questions. The McBrearty legal team have drawn attention to a 1988 Garda circular instructing officers to report on the activities of Mr McBrearty, his family and contacts.

Mr McBrearty has been granted an interim injunction restraining the Garda Commissioner from continuing to circulate the document, and he has also secured leave from the High Court to take an action to compel the Garda Commissioner to investigate allegations of perjury by five officers who denied the existence of the document in court.

Another document which is likely to cause serious embarrassment is an alleged confession by Mr Frank McBrearty jnr, admitting the killing of Mr Barron. Mr McBrearty denies making or signing the statement.

The McBrearty legal team has now employed a forensic scientist from Belfast to go into Garda Headquarters to do handwriting and other tests on this document. His final report is still awaited.

Further allegations will also emerge as the McBreartys pursue a host of different cases. The Opposition have accused Mr O'Donoghue of trying to push the affair under the carpet until after the next general election, but it may prove difficult to do so.

People in Raphoe say they have stopped talking about it, that customers come in and out of shops and hear it on the news but don't even comment any more. They feel the portrayal of the town in media reports is unfair.

"Everywhere you go now, people say, 'what kind of a place is that?' - we're just scunnered with it all."