A psychiatrist who certified John Carthy as fit to hold a firearm a few months after his gun had been confiscated by gardai gave evidence at the inquest into Mr Carthy's death.
Dr David Shanley of St Patrick's Hospital, Dublin, said the Abbeylara man had been his patient for approximately 13 years when, on October 8th, 1998, Mr Carthy asked him to write a letter to the superintendent in Granard indicating he was a fit person to hold a firearm.
The inquest into the death of Mr Carthy (27) is to establish how, when and where he died. Mr Carthy was shot dead on April 20th following a 25 hour siege at his Abbeylara home in Co Longford.
Mr Carthy told Dr Shanley he had held a gun for seven years and used it to shoot pheasants and pigeons. He said the gardai had taken his gun as part of a routine operation throughout the State.
Garda Oliver Cassidy said he had received information in August 1998 that Mr Carthy had been unstable and he was aware he held a licensed firearm. The question of whether he should hold a firearm or not had to be considered. He took the gun from him and held it until November 1998.
Dr Shanley said there was no evidence that Mr Carthy, who suffered from manic depression, was depressed or elated during his visit to him on October 8th, 1998. He was feeling well, there was no evidence of him suffering from a lack of concentration or loss of interest, and he had recently won a handball tournament.
Nightmares he had suffered following a road accident in February 1997 were less frequent and he was getting plenty of work as a plasterer in Longford. He was considering moving to Galway where his sister, Marie, worked.
On October 13th, 1998, Dr Shanley wrote to the superintendent in Granard, telling him Mr Carthy had been a patient of his for some years but was now feeling well and was, in his opinion, fit to use a firearm. He indicated that should there be any change in his condition, he would contact Mr Carthy's GP who in turn would contact the gardai.
Dr Shanley said Mr Carthy attended him the following month. He was clinically depressed and prescribed anti-depressants. He was admitted to University College Hospital, Galway, on December 26th, 1998, and discharged on January 6th, 1999. He was considered to be elated, he added.
In March 1999 Dr Shanley again found him to be depressed and prescribed anti-depressants; by the following month he had shown an improvement and was attending Aware meetings. The last time he saw Mr Carthy was on June 11th, 1999, and his mood at the time was stable.
Dr Shanley said Mr Carthy was a pleasant, unassuming young man with a good sense of humour. He drank heavily on occasions but did not use illicit drugs. "I understand he was well until a week or so before his tragic death," he said.
Dr Shanley said that in the first consultation in 1985, Mr Carthy revealed he had been a patient at St Loman's psychiatric hospital in Mullingar, and also at UCHG. He had been drinking heavily and heard voices afterwards which appeared to be associated with withdrawal from alcohol. He had been studying horticulture but left college when he suffered a breakdown.
The psychiatrist said he was called to Abbeylara during the siege and, from discussions with the gardai and Mr Carthy's family, he believed Mr Carthy was disturbed and probably suffering from depression.
Apart from this, he had the "added burden" of alcohol and nicotine withdrawal to cope with and would have slept for only about two hours, all of which would have contributed to his agitation.
Retired Supt Denis Cullinane told the inquest Mr Carthy's gun was taken from him after he allegedly threatened people in the area and because he was allegedly unstable. When Mr Carthy asked for an explanation, Supt Cullinane told him.
Mr Carthy said he did not threaten anyone and did not suffer from depression any more. The superintendent said he would need medical evidence of this and received a letter from Dr Shanley.
This, combined with the fact that nobody against whom he had allegedly made threats would make statements, and the fact that his mother, Mrs Rose Carthy, did not mind him having a gun, resulted in Supt Cullinane coming to the conclusion that there was "no legal justification to deprive him of his firearm", and it was returned.