Smithwick Tribunal
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The Smithwick Tribunal was an
Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
Tribunal of Inquiry A tribunal of inquiry is an official review of events or actions ordered by a government body. In many common law countries, such as the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, Australia and Canada, such a public inquiry differs from a royal ...
into the events surrounding the killing of Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Robert Buchanan of the
Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the Royal ...
(RUC). The men were killed in a
Provisional Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reun ...
(IRA) ambush near the
Irish border Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
at Jonesborough on 20 March 1989 as they returned in an unmarked car from a cross-border security conference in Dundalk with senior Garda officers. The tribunal issued its report on 3 December 2013, finding there had been collusion between members of the Gardaí and the IRA, which resulted in the deaths of Breen and Buchanan. The tribunal took its name from the chairman of the Tribunal, Judge
Peter Smithwick Peter Smithwick (15 February 1937 – 8 March 2022) was an Irish judge who served as chairman and the sole member of the Smithwick Tribunal, a Tribunal of Inquiry into the events surrounding the killing of Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and ...
.


Background

The setting up of the Smithwick tribunal was prompted by
Peter Cory Peter deCarteret Cory, (October 25, 1925 – April 7, 2020) was a puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Canada, from 1989 to 1999. Early life and education Born in Windsor, Ontario, the son of Andrew and Mildred (Beresford Howe) Cory, he was educ ...
, a
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
judge who was commissioned by the Irish government to investigate the killing of the two RUC officers and determine if there were grounds for a public inquiry into the case. In his report, published in October 2003, Judge Cory stated it could be said that the IRA did not need information from the Gardaí to carry out the ambush and that intelligence reports received in the aftermath had also pointed to this conclusion. However, Cory referred to two other intelligence reports mentioning a Garda leak and a statement from a British intelligence agent known as Kevin Fulton who claimed an IRA man told him that the IRA was told about the presence of the RUC officers in Dundalk police station by a Garda. In July 2006, Judge Smithwick stated that he would complete his investigations before public hearings began. On 7 June 2011, public hearings began in Dublin.


Tribunal remit

The tribunal considered whether there was a failure to act to prevent the two officers being killed. Smithwick stated that the inquiry would investigate whether there was collusion in the "widest sense of the word". He defined this further: "While it generally means the commission of an act, I am of the view that it should also be considered in terms of an omission or failure to act... I intend to examine whether anybody turned a blind eye to it, or pretended ignorance or unawareness of something one ought morally, legally or officially oppose."


Collusion allegations

There have been allegations that the IRA were tipped off about the route the men had planned to take by a member of the
Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace"), more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards", is the national police service of Ireland. The service is headed by the Garda Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Gover ...
, informally known as "Garda X". British
Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
Jeffrey Donaldson Sir Jeffrey Mark Donaldson (born 7 December 1962) is a Northern Irish politician who has served as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) since June 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Lagan Valley since 1997, and leader ...
used his
parliamentary privilege Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made in the course of their legislative duties. ...
in the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
in 2000 to suggest that Garda Detective Sergeant Owen Corrigan passed on information to the IRA about the meeting. Corrigan's barrister denied the allegation at the tribunal: ''"That statement by Jeffrey Donaldson was a monstrous lie. It was false and my client wishes to establish the falsehood of it."''


The Tribunal

Before the public sessions opened, the tribunal's legal team met with three former senior IRA
volunteers Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...
, one of whom had a command role in the ambush. Among the witnesses who gave testimony were former and serving Gardaí, informants, British agents, and former colleagues of the dead officers, including Breen's staff officer, Sergeant Alan Mains. The Breen and Buchanan families were represented by solicitors John McBurney and Ernie Waterworth, respectively.


Findings of Garda collusion with the IRA

The tribunal'
report
was published on 3 December 2013. In the report Judge Smithwick said that although there was no "smoking gun", he was "satisfied there was collusion in the murders" and that he was "satisfied that the evidence points to the fact that there was someone within the Garda station assisting the IRA". The report was also critical of two earlier Garda investigations into the murders, which it described as "inadequate". Irish Justice Minister
Alan Shatter Alan Joseph Shatter (born 14 February 1951) is an Irish lawyer, author and former Fine Gael politician who served as Minister for Justice and Equality and Minister for Defence from 2011 to 2014. He was a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Sou ...
apologised "without reservation" for the failings identified in the report.
Martin Callinan Martin Callinan (born 25 August 1953), is an Irish former Garda, who served as Garda Commissioner from 2010 to 2014. Callinan is a two-time graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia, qualifying in law enforcement management (1 ...
,
Garda Commissioner The Garda Commissioner ( ga, Coimisinéir an Gharda Síochána) – officially known as the Commissioner of An Garda Síochána – is the head of the Garda Síochána, the national police force of the Republic of Ireland. The Garda Commissione ...
, stated that the notion of Garda/IRA collusion was "horrifying", and
Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...
Enda Kenny Enda Kenny (born 24 April 1951) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 2011 to 2017, Leader of Fine Gael from 2002 to 2017, Minister for Defence from May to July 2014 and 2016 to 2017, Leader of the Opposition from ...
declared the report to be "shocking".BBC report on Smithwick Tribunal report
, 4 December 2013; accessed 4 December 2013.


References


External links



{{PIRA Garda Síochána operations Judicial inquiries Northern Ireland peace process Police misconduct in Ireland Provisional Irish Republican Army Public inquiries in Ireland Royal Ulster Constabulary The Troubles (Northern Ireland)