Former garda says British agents plotted against him

A former garda has told the Smithwick Tribunal he believes Garda headquarters was warned about his alleged links to the IRA in advance of the murders of two RUC officers.

But former detective sergeant Owen Corrigan said the naming of him as an IRA mole who assisted in the murders of RUC officers Chief Supt Harry Breen and Supt Bob Buchanan was part of a British security services plot to undermine him.

Mr Corrigan told the tribunal that the RUC put pressure on the Garda and government to upscale the detective facility in Dundalk by adding about 40 new officers after the Anglo Irish Agreement in 1985.

This led to his being “excluded” from the station’s day-to-day activities by a new superior, Supt Tom Connolly.

Mr Corrigan also said the naming of him by DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson as an IRA mole, under House of Commons privilege, was a further part of the plot against him.

The tribunal adjourned until the end of August. Mr Corrigan’s evidence is not expected to last more than one more day.