McBrearty snr asked to leave McDowell debate

Donegal publican Frank McBrearty snr and his wife Rosalind were asked to leave a meeting addressed by the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, in University College Dublin on Tuesday 21 November.

Despite having obtained permission from the auditor of the law society, the couple were told they could not attend the meeting with their daughter, Maria, a student at UCD.

"We were asked to leave and were left sitting outside the hall while our daughter stayed at the meeting. She had asked the organisers if we could attend and they had given permission before the meeting. I would have put some questions to the minister if we had been allowed to stay but clearly he does not want to listen to our concerns," Frank McBrearty snr told Village.

Maria McBrearty managed to ask some questions of the minister but was less than happy with the response.

"I asked why his legal team and that of the Garda Commissioner had their legal costs at the Morris tribunal covered on an ongoing basis while my father and other victims of Garda abuse did not. He did not give a satisfactory answer," she said.

When the minister was asked by another student why Frank McBrearty snr and his wife were excluded from the meeting, Michael McDowell replied that it was a matter for the auditor of the law society.

According to Maria McBrearty, her parents were asked to leave after Michael Dowell's garda handlers approached the officers of the law society.

"The auditor told us that they decided the meeting was for students only," she told Village.

According to Richard Mulrooney, auditor of the law society, security was out of his hands on the night.

"Security arrangements were not up to us. It was our hope that everyone could get in. I did tell their daughter that she could ask any questions she liked," Mulrooney told Village.

Meanwhile, Frank McBrearty jnr has written to the chairman of the Morris tribunal seeking discovery of sensitive documents from the Garda Commissioner. These include copies of every interview carried out by four detectives from Dublin during their entire careers. These are the four detectives who interviewed Frank McBrearty jnr in Letterkenny Garda station in December 1996, weeks after the death of cattle dealer Richie Barron. Following McBrearty's interview, a fabricated confession to the murder of Richie Barron, with his signature, was obtained.

"I require all interview notes taken by Detective Inspector Eammon O'Grady, Detective Sergeant Gerard McGrath, retired Detective Sergeant John Melody and Detective Sergeant John Fitzpatrick over their entire careers," Frank McBrearty wrote.

In his letter to Judge Frederick Morris on 19 November, McBrearty jnr has also asked permission to cross-examine the detectives and other senior gardaí, as well as Michael McDowell.

McBrearty jnr also said he wanted a proper explanation as to why the tribunal has requested his medical records and why it wants him to be medically examined. He has already undergone medical examinations by state doctors during his successful High Court action against the state.

FRANK CONNOLLY