Former garda refuses to divulge bank account

One of the key witnesses at the Smithwick Tribunal, former detective sergeant Owen Corrigan of Dundalk Garda station has refused to provide the inquiry with details of his bank accounts.

The tribunal is investigating allegations of collusion between members of An Garda Síochána and the IRA in the murder of two RUC officers in 1989.

Chief superintendent Harry Breen and Supt Bob Buchanan were killed in an IRA ambush minutes after leaving Dundalk Garda station.

Mr Corrigan who has been granted legal representation at the tribunal said he had been subjected to more scrutiny than other witnesses, was in poor health and would not be disclosing the “personal details” of his bank accounts.

The refusal to provide the information came as Justin Dillon SC for the tribunal sought to take Mr Corrigan through details of his property portfolio.

On Wednesday Mr Corrigan had told his own senior counsel Jim O’Callaghan he had over his career acquired a commercial property in Drogheda as well as a number of residential properties in Dundalk, and had bought a public house partly funded by his gratuity on retirement from An Garda Síochána.

Mr Corrigan acknowledged he had also acquired a property in Navan but took exception to a request for sight of a bank account connected with his property portfolio. He said it was “grossly unfair to go over this”.

Mr Dillon said he would like to “clarify the existence of a bank account, that is all”. But Mr Corrigan insisted “I am not handing in my bank accounts and that is it”. He said he had thought “long and hard” about the issue while undergoing a recent spell in hospital.