After the first week of evidence, the Morris inquiry is already shaping upto be one of those tribunals where the more one learns, the less one knows, report Joe Humphreys and Alison Healy
The road to the truth finally began this week, and a long road it promises to be. After four years of rumour and innuendo, internal investigations and a miscarriage of justice trial, the tribunal of inquiry "into complaints concerning some gardaí of the Donegal Division" - to give it its official title - started hearing evidence in a ground-floor corner of a modern office complex in Clonskeagh, south Dublin.
An easy task? Alas, one can sense the exasperation in the air.
In his opening statement in Donegal four months ago, counsel for the tribunal Peter Charleton SC remarked that people had "lied in relation to virtually every paragraph" of its terms of reference. Opening the first module of the tribunal last Monday, he said that virtually every one of the main characters in it considered themselves a "victim".
Yes, it appears that Morris - to give it its colloquial name - is going to be one of those tribunals where the more one learns, the less one knows. Certainly, one might conclude that from the first week of evidence.
Claim and counter-claim ran throughout, and allegations surfaced and disappeared without trace. Not just allegations but second-hand and third-hand claims (allegations made by one person to another, who in turn relayed them to a third person, whose version of the allegations were then denied by the first).
One might forgive the lawyers, despite their €2,500-a-day senior counsel fees, if they missed the simplicity of the Four Courts or Dublin Castle.
As for Mr Justice Morris, his many expressions of impatience as gardaí gave their evidence included: "Just tell me what you remember"; "Please don't try to slip away from the question", and "Can we get this back on the rails?"
As with other tribunals, lack of memory is proving a sticking-point on occasion, but the chairman, along with counsel for the tribunal and other legal representatives, is somewhat intolerant of the excuse, and with good reason. Firstly, the events pertinent to the inquiry were relatively recent, and secondly, those giving evidence are gardaí who should, therefore, be more aware than most of the value of retaining facts.
Day one saw Supt Tom Long and Garda Martin Leonard in the witness box. Both gave evidence relating to their dealings with Sheenagh McMahon, the estranged wife of Det Garda Noel McMahon.
Sheenagh and Noel married in April 1981 and lived in Buncrana, and later Letterkenny, where Noel was posted for a time. The relationship turned sour and a barring order was granted to Sheenagh in June 1995. Just before Christmas 1998, the couple separated.
On March 16th 1999, Moya Jane O'Doherty, Sheenagh's sister and a solicitor, called to Buncrana Garda Station and made a complaint about the conduct of Det Garda McMahon. The event proved to be a catalyst for a major investigation into allegations against various gardaí, including McMahon and Supt Kevin Lennon, both of whom have been suspended from the force.
Initially, the complaint related to an alleged threatening phone call made by Det Garda McMahon to O'Doherty. Supt Tom Long, who first dealt with the allegation, said Sheenagh McMahon subsequently informed him that she was "in fear of her life" and that she had been threatened by Adrienne McGlinchey, an alleged Garda informant who was closely associated with her husband. In addition, Long claimed that Sheenagh McMahon told him that her husband, Supt Lennon and McGlinchey had used her home to mix explosives before transporting the material around Co Donegal and Northern Ireland. Sheenagh McMahon has denied aspects of this evidence.
In another episode, Sheenagh McMahon in July 1999 withdrew a 30-page statement relating to the allegations, only to have it reinstated five months later, explaining that she had not been well when she withdrew it.
Garda Leonard, a Garda Representative Association official acting for Det Garda McMahon, took Sheenagh McMahon's second statement (withdrawing her initial statement) in July 1999. This week, he defended that decision, saying it was "grossly unfair" to suggest he had coerced her into making the second statement.
Ms McMahon's solicitor, Niall Sheridan, told the tribunal, however, that "it shouldn't have happened". He said he had told Garda Leonard beforehand that his client was "in no fit condition" to make a statement and had urged him not to proceed.
Into this mix were thrown claims of affairs and hatred. Garda Alison Teape told the tribunal that Sheenagh McMahon had accused her of having an affair with her husband while they were still married. That was untrue, Garda Teape said. Her relationship with the detective had begun after the McMahons had parted.
Garda Teape also alleged that Sheenagh McMahon had said "vicious things" about her, and had claimed that Det Garda McMahon had had affairs with three other women. This was also untrue, the garda said.
Garda Teape further claimed that Sheenagh McMahon hated Supt Lennon because he had received a Policeman of the Year award, which Sheenagh McMahon believed should have been given to her husband.
"When she started talking about Kevin Lennon, it just went on and on and on. You didn't get a word in edgeways," said Garda Teape.
The garda further claimed that Sheenagh McMahon had showed her a page of writing, saying she was going to "get" Supt Lennon with it.
Sheenagh McMahon, who denies these allegations, was due to begin her evidence last Thursday, but will not now start until next week. This is partly due to a longer-than-expected cross- examination of Supt Long by none other than Supt Lennon himself. The latter, who has been suspended on 90 per cent of his salary since last August, has claimed he cannot afford to pay for legal representation. High Court proceedings for an order directing the State to pay such costs will be heard this week.
In the absence of a lawyer, the tribunal has been treated to the sight of one senior Garda officer challenging the evidence of another. Supt Lennon, who has alleged he was the "victim of both circumstances and of the malicious personalities" of gardaí in the division, pulled no punches in his cross-examination, accusing Supt Long of "avoiding the question", "making it up as you go along" and "gilding the lily".
Supt Long denied all such allegations, including a suggestion that he may have been the source of leaks to the media about garda misconduct. "I would not do that, Kevin. You know me a long time," Supt Long remarked.
Indeed, if there was one thing we learnt this week, it was how well everyone at the tribunal knew each other. Supt Long had known Sheenagh McMahon since the 1980s, and her husband had organised his "do" when he moved stations. Supt Long also knew Supt Lennon as a decent person "prior to all this".
Supt Lennon was a pal of Det Garda McMahon, and so on, and so on. So much so that at times it felt like one had stumbled into a family law court hearing rather than a tribunal of inquiry.
The credibility of witnesses will be a key element of the tribunal, which has cost €2.8 million to date in administration and legal fees. Mr Justice Morris faces the task of separating truth from fiction, and with just six witnesses down and 135 to go in this particular module (on alleged hoax explosives finds), that task is an onerous one.
Nine modules remain, including the largest one, on the investigation into the death of cattle dealer Richie Barron, for which the tribunal plans to move to Donegal in late June. Legal challenges loom from various quarters, including the legislature, over the tribunal's demand that two parliamentarians disclose confidential documents to it.
Despite all this, the tribunal's lawyers believe they can wrap up the hearing of evidence within a year. One can't fault them for their optimism.