Chairman calls counsel 'offensive, abusive'

Barr Tribunal: Lawyers for the 36 gardaí involved in the Abbeylara siege have said they will not return for the final day of the tribunal today after the chairman, Mr Justice Barr, stopped them from finishing their closing submission.

The tribunal chairman Mr Justice Barr has refused to allow the counsel for the gardaí to finish their oral submission to the tribunal on the grounds that they were being "grossly offensive" and "abusive" to him.

Yesterday he interrupted the final address of counsel for the gardaí, Mr Patrick O'Connell, and told him to "sit down", saying that he would not allow him "a platform for abuse".

Mr O'Connell had been making representations in relation to the chairman's treatment of the Garda witnesses at the tribunal. The tribunal had shown a "marked and very discernible difference" in attitude towards the gardaí as distinct from other witnesses, he said.

"My clients perceive themselves as having been cast in the role of accused and they also feel that the manner of their questioning throughout has differed utterly from that of other witnesses."

Mr Justice Barr said he could not allow Mr O'Connell to refer to him as an "accuser" and said there was no point in his continuing with the submission if it contained "that sort of abuse".

"If the rest of your submission is more of that sort of abuse, you can take it as read and sit down. I won't listen to it." Mr O'Connell said he was trying to put forward a genuine case for his clients who had "had to suffer" at the hands of the chairman.

The chairman again asked if the rest of Mr O'Connell's final paper contained abuse. Mr O'Connell replied that it contained his submission, which he was entitled to give.

"You are not entitled to make abusive observations, which you are doing," Mr Justice Barr said. He conceded he had taken "a hands-on" approach as chairman but he said it was not a court of law and he was entitled to ask questions and intervene during witnesses' evidence. However, although he had asked direct questions of the witnesses, he had not made up his mind on any aspect of the tribunal, and had certainly made no accusations. "To refer to me as an accuser is grossly offensive," he said.

Mr O'Connell asked if the chairman was refusing to accept his final submission. Mr Justice Barr said he would take it into consideration in private, but would not allow it to be read aloud. "I shall read it, it won't be wasted, but you won't get a platform for abuse Mr O'Connell."

The tribunal is investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of Mr John Carthy (27) who died after he was shot outside his home in Abbeylara, Co Longford, in April 2000 following a 25-hour armed stand-off with gardaí.

The chairman adjourned the tribunal to this morning, when the closing submission of the lawyers for the Carthy family will be heard. Counsel representing Mrs Rose and Ms Marie Carthy, Mr Carthy's mother and sister, will be the last legal team to make a submission to the tribunal.

Speaking outside the tribunal the representatives of the gardaí said they would not return for the final day of hearings, following the chairman's conduct during their submission. "Our clients are disappointed that they were not allowed to complete their submission today, because what is contained in the last portion of the statement are significant matters for the consideration of the tribunal," Mr Tom Murphy, solicitor for the gardaí, said.