Eugene Crowley:EUGENE CROWLEY, who has died aged 83, was a former Garda commissioner who previously headed the Special Branch.
Much of his work as a senior Garda officer was related to security issues arising from the Northern Ireland Troubles and he was a key security adviser to government.
As deputy commissioner he was, in February 1988, appointed by the government to investigate the fatal shooting by a British soldier of Aidan McAnespie at Aughnacloy, Co Tyrone. His brief was to take evidence from witnesses “reluctant” to deal with the Northern Ireland authorities.
His report, which was not published, concluded that the victim was killed by a ricocheted bullet, confirming the RUC’s findings.
The PSNI’s Historical Enquiries Team recently re-examined the case, and earlier this week the British government expressed its “deep regret” at the incident.
A senior garda said that the McAnespie case was a perfect illustration of Crowley’s modus operandi. “He went there with an open mind, gathered the facts and produced the report, even though it might not have contained the conclusion that most people had expected.”
Born in Ballineen, Bandon, Co Cork, he followed his elder brother Jim into the Garda at the age of 19. His first posting was to Kilmacow, Co Waterford, followed by Waterford city, where he spent four years. During this time he met, and later married, his wife Eda.
He served afterwards in Ballinasloe, Ennis and Dundalk, rising through the ranks to become a superintendent at the age of 38.
In 1961 he attended a course in police methods at Tullyalian Castle in Scotland. Two years later, after being appointed chief training instructor at Garda headquarters, he attended a crime prevention course at Stafford in England.
He was stationed in Dundalk at the outbreak of the Troubles and he used those years to build up a valuable understanding of paramilitary activity along the Border.
In 1971 he was reassigned to the research and planning unit at headquarters where his work encompassed training reviews, promotional structures and manpower deployment.
Between 1975 and 1978 he was personal assistant to the then commissioner Edmund Garvey.
He later became head of the Special Branch and was in charge of security for the papal visit to Ireland in 1979.
In June 1987 he was made assistant commissioner in charge of the security section, and he was promoted to deputy commissioner in January 1988.
“He moved very cautiously, but very steadily through the ranks,” a fellow officer said when he was appointed commissioner later in 1988. “It was almost like he evaluated his career the way he approached a case, and there was never any doubting his ambition.”
Another colleague described him as the kind of man who made reasoned, calm decisions and who also showed “the skill and shrewdness of a practised political operator”.
A former minister for justice described him when he was commissioner as being “one of the brightest” members of the force. “He deals with the essentials of the problems in a low key, extremely efficient way”.
Following the capture of the Eksund gun-running boat off the French coast in late 1987, he led the subsequent investigation which found that Libyan consignments of arms to the IRA included several tonnes of Semtex explosive, 1,270 AKM assault rifles, 60 light machine guns, as well as bazookas, flame-throwers and missile parts.
On the basis of his intelligence reports a nationwide search for the IRA’s arsenal was launched.
He retired in 1991. During his commissionership, management improvements instituted in the late 1980s took hold and worked well.
This together with his reputation for fairness and humanity made him popular with rank-and-file gardaí.
Relations with the RUC, which had been extremely difficult at senior levels, improved greatly and he was the first Garda commissioner to formally meet his opposite number from Northern Ireland.
A quiet social drink with a few close friends was his main relaxation. A former president of the Garda rugby club, other interests included gardening.
Predeceased by his wife Eda, he is survived by his daughters Mary, Ger and Grace.
Eugene C Crowley: born January 5th, 1926; died July 26th, 2009