McDowell disagrees with parts of Barr report

Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has disagreed with the chairman of the Barr tribunal over a number of key findings in his report on the fatal shooting of John Carthy by gardaí in Abbeylara, Co Longford, six years ago.

Mr Carthy's psychiatrist should not have recommended that his gun be returned by gardaí in 1998, Mr McDowell said, a finding not reached by the tribunal report.

He added that Mr Justice Barr had unfairly criticised assistant commissioner Tony Hickey.

Speaking on RTÉ radio yesterday, the Minister, who apologised to the Carthy family last week on behalf of the State, said he was sure the Garda commissioner would eventually apologise to the family.

Mr Carthy's legally-held shotgun was confiscated by gardaí in August 1998 following informal complaints from the wife of a local businessman who said Mr Carthy should not have a gun because he was "mentally unstable" and in dispute with her husband, his former employer. She said she had also heard that he had threatened local children.

No formal complaints were made against Mr Carthy, and although the allegations were investigated, no substance was found to them.

Mr Carthy asked his psychiatrist, Dr David Shanley, to furnish a letter stating his was fit to hold a shotgun, but did not tell him about the allegations.

Dr Shanley wrote the letter and in it stated that Mr Carthy's GP would monitor the situation, although the GP was never made aware of this. The gun was returned and Mr Carthy later used it in the Abbeylara siege.

Mr Justice Barr found that it was appropriate for Dr Shanley to write the letter given the information available to him.

Mr McDowell said yesterday that he did not agree with the chairman on this issue.

"John Carthy shouldn't have had a shotgun; John Carthy's psychiatrist shouldn't have recommended that he be given his shotgun back," he said.

As the assistant commissioner based in Mullingar, Mr Hickey was involved in requesting the deployment of the emergency response unit (ERU) and a negotiator at the scene.

The report found that he should have informed the scene commander of this decision at an earlier stage, should have ensured that the ERU tactical commander was of a commissioned rank, and ought to have ascertained that the negotiator had no prior experience in a siege situation. He also should have paid more attention to the command problems at the scene.

Mr McDowell said he had the highest regard for Mr Hickey, who should not have been dealt with so harshly by Mr Justice Barr. "He got a fair going over in the witness box and this report, and I don't think, to be honest with you, he is a man who deserves criticism; I think he served Ireland very well."

The Garda has been criticised by the Carthy family for not apologising for the shooting. Mr McDowell said yesterday that he believed the commissioner would issue an apology.

"The Garda commissioner has a number of very significant issues to deal with, and I am sure that when he comes to a considered view on this report that he will of course share in my apology to the Carthy family for the fact that the management of this siege was unsatisfactory and that John Carthy need not, in the particular circumstances, have ended up a casualty."