Siege trained doctor was not called

Barr Tribunal: A senior clinical psychologist who was asked to be part of the Garda hostage negotiation team said his expertise was never called on during the Abbeylara siege, or during any other siege.

Mr Desmond O'Mahony, a former director of psychological services with the Department of Justice's prisons division, said he had been trained in and had himself given lectures to the Garda hostage negotiators' course.

He had been asked to make himself available should there be a siege, but had never been "activated" by the Garda.

Mr O'Mahony was asked to take part in the first negotiators' course in 1989 to provide mental health advice to negotiators.

He was also trained as the mental health professional on the negotiating team.

He attended a similar course in 1993, but was not contacted by the Garda again.

"It was my understanding that I was part of the national hostage negotiation team."

He was asked to give his home and mobile numbers so he could be available at short notice, but he said: "Despite reading reports in the newspapers about incidents, I was never contacted before, during or after any incidents."

A mental health professional would be "an integral part of the scheme of things" in a siege situation, Mr O'Mahony said. However, there were no medical personnel with the gardaí at the siege in Abbeylara.

When asked by the chairman of the tribunal, Mr Justice Barr, whether it was important for a Garda negotiator to have medical advice from the "treating doctor" of a mentally ill subject in a siege situation, Mr O'Mahony replied: "He would be operating with one hand tied behind his back if he doesn't have this type of information."

The tribunal has already heard evidence that Mr Carthy's psychiatrist, Dr David Shanley, did not arrive at the scene until the second day of the siege, shortly before Mr Carthy was shot dead.

His professional advice had not been sought during the siege even though it was known by gardaí that the 27-year-old was suffering from bi-polar depression at the time.

Mr O'Mahony said it was "absolutely essential" and "an urgent priority" that where a person involved in an armed stand-off with gardaí had a mental illness, that person's doctor should be consulted fully.

He also said it would be "very important" to have a mental health professional on the negotiating team to "translate" medical information which the subject's doctor might be able to supply to the negotiator.

Mr O'Mahony told the tribunal that part of his training with the negotiators had been to assess a siege situation and decide when a negotiator was "floundering" and needed to be substituted.

There was no substitution of negotiators during the Abbeylara incident.