Tribunal hears of Dundalk 'rumours'

A former Garda superintendent has told the Smithwick Tribunal he believed Garda headquarters was aware of rumours that a garda in Dundalk was inappropriately associating with subversives.

Retired superintendent Tom Butler told the tribunal he met RUC officers chief superintendent Harry Breen and superintendent Bob Buchanan on many occasions and had regularly driven around the Border area with Mr Buchanan.

The two RUC officers were murdered in an IRA ambush in south Armagh on March 20th, 1989, minutes after leaving a meeting in Dundalk Garda station.

The Smithwick Tribunal is enquiring into suggestions that a member or members of An Garda colluded with the IRA in the RUC men's murders.

This morning Mr Butler said he had served for four years in Garda headquarters in Harcourt Square, Dublin, as part of the Garda Bureau of Criminal Investigation. During his time there he said he heard rumours that then Det Sgt Owen Corrigan of Dundalk station was associating inappropriately with the IRA.

He said the rumours were that Owen Corrigan was "a maverick and was associating with people who were not in the best interests of the Garda Síochána".

He said he "presumed" if he was hearing these rumours that they were known to more senior gardaí in Garda headquarters. He said he was also aware of rumours that Mr Corrigan was able to leave his station in Dundalk and report directly to senior Garda in Dublin's Phoenix Park.

Mr Butler said he was subsequently sent to the Border region in November 1988 where he met Monaghan superintendent Tom Curran. He said he regarded Mr Curran as "an extremely professional, straight to the point officer dedicated to the task in hand".

He said he was aware of Mr Curran had claimed to have gone to see assistant Garda commissioner Eugene Crowley in Dublin to report RUC concern about Mr Corrigan's associations with subversives.

But he agreed with Jim O'Callaghan SC for Mr Corrigan that a detective officer such as Mr Corrigan would have had to associate with subversives in order to gather information on them and their activities.