February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Andrew Bushe
DUBLIN — An FBI team has been called in to assist in the gardai’s own investigation into the shooting death of John Carthy by members of the force’s emergency response unit during a siege at his home in Abbeylara, Co. Longford, at Easter.
Justice Minister John O’Donoghue said five FBI agents "whose expertise in the handling of the type of situation which arose in Abbeylara would be internationally recognized" are in Ireland.
The move follows talks between O’Donoghue and Garda Commissioner Pat Byrne amid widespread public concern about the circumstances of the tragedy and if the death of Carthy could have been avoided.
Carthy, who had fired on gardai with his shotgun, was shot dead when he left his home and walked out onto the road carrying his gun. The exact circumstances are still unclear.
The minister disclosed the FBI involvement when he was asked in the Dail by Fine Gael justice spokesman Jim Higgins about guidelines for the gardai’s use of firearms and if they had been trained in the use of stun guns.
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O’Donoghue said 200 people had so far been interviewed in the investigation headed by a chief superintendent and the FBI men’s role was not to conduct the probe into what happened but to "assist."
"What they will do is assess the handling of the operation as a whole by reference to international best practice," O’Donoghue said. "I expect their input will be reflected in the chief superintendent’s report.
"The primary purpose is to ensure that any lessons that may need to be learned from this tragic death will be learned.
"I accept there is grave public concern regarding what happened at Abbeylara."
The minister said he expected the results of the investigation would be available for publication by the end of this month.
Higgins said that the use of weapons like Heckler and Koch 33 assault rifles and Uzi submachine guns by gardai in the siege was far in excess of what was required.
He claimed a chief superintendent investigating an operation commanded by an assistant commissioner lacked credibility and left itself open to question.
The dead man’s family and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties have sought an independent investigation.