Reporter decided not to broadcast John Carthy's name

RTÉ crime correspondent Mr Paul Reynolds has said he has "no recollection" that the head of the Garda Press Office, Supt John Farrelly, asked him not to name the man at the centre of the Abbeylara siege.

Supt Farrelly has given evidence to the tribunal that he told Mr Reynolds "in some form or fashion" that the gardaí were not naming Mr John Carthy.

In his first day of evidence at the tribunal yesterday, Mr Reynolds said that he did not recollect being told that. However, he said he had decided himself not to name the man.

"It was never an issue between myself and John Farrelly, because I would have known myself not to name him and that the gardaí wouldn't have wanted him named."

When Mr Reynolds became aware of Mr Carthy's name, he decided that it "wouldn't be appropriate" to broadcast it.

He said he was aware from the early stages of the siege that the 27-year-old was "troubled" and that the situation was "sensitive". Later during the siege Supt Farrelly told him, in confidence, that Mr Carthy was suffering "from some kind of depression".

Mr Reynolds didn't think broadcasting his name would have added to the news story. "It would have been a different story if it was Charlie Haughey," he said.

Mr Reynolds contacted the RTÉ newsroom from the scene some time before 10 a.m. He told news editor Mr Donal Byrne that he did not intend to name Mr Carthy in his broadcasts and Mr Byrne approved of this, he said.

"You tend not to broadcast people's names until you get the okay [from the gardaí]. These are life and death situations and you tend to take a cautious approach to that type of work," Mr Reynolds said.

That Mr Carthy might have had access to a radio was also a factor in Mr Reynold's decision.

"I would have judged myself that he might possibly have had access to a radio. I was conscious of the fact that he may have been listening to the radio and he might have heard the broadcasts."

RTÉ journalist Mr Niall O'Flynn, who named Mr Carthy on RTÉ's Five Seven Live, some 30 minutes before the man left his house and was shot dead by gardaí, has given evidence that he did not think Mr Carthy was listening to the radio and he did not know that RTÉ news was not naming Mr Carthy or that he was mentally ill.

Mr Reynolds said he did not tell Mr O'Flynn that he was not naming Mr Carthy or that Mr Carthy was mentally unwell. He presumed Mr O'Flynn would have learned this information from listening to the news. "I would have presumed he would have heard my broadcasts."

Mr Reynolds said he had been reporting on the incident since 7p.m. the previous evening, shortly after the siege began and had not named Mr Carthy.

"It was not my function to brief other reporters at the scene."

He said he was not keeping anything from Mr O'Flynn and if his colleague had asked any questions he would have answered them. However, he said: "I had no editorial responsibility for what Niall was broadcasting."

Earlier Mr Donal Byrne told the tribunal he agreed with Mr Reynold's decision not to name Mr Carthy. He said he was not aware of any Garda requests, but it would have been his own view that Mr Carthy should not be named. He said he knew Mr Carthy was "troubled" from Mr Reynold's reports and from reading the national newspapers.

After Mr Carthy was named on Five Seven Live Mr Byrne rang Mr Reynolds to find out if there had been some new development. "He told me things hadn't changed so we stuck to our previous decision not to name him."