The tribunal investigating the Abbeylara shooting incident is to examine the law on possession of firearms and gun licences with a view to recommending possible reform.
Sitting for the first time in public yesterday, the Barr tribunal also said it would consider making recommendations on the training and direction of Garda officers, including those in the Emergency Response Unit (ERU), who are faced with dangerous situations.
Mr Justice Barr, sole member of the inquiry, said any such recommendations would form part of the tribunal's report, which would also examine the facts surrounding the fatal shooting of John Carthy in Co Longford on April 20th, 2000.
In an opening statement delivered in the High Court, Mr Justice Barr said the tribunal's work would be conducted in six modules, covering the background and circumstances surrounding the shooting, the response of the ERU, the cause of Mr Carthy's death and a review of statute law.
The tribunal is also to examine how the police in other countries, such as Scotland, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, deal with "similar situations where a dangerous armed gunman is believed to be activated by mental illness, psychiatric disorder or other such disability".
Mr Carthy was shot dead by a member of the ERU as he walked from his home carrying a shotgun following an overnight stand-off with gardaí.
Mr Justice Barr said the tribunal had received more than 200 witness statements and medical reports, adding that "certain police and professional reports on procedures for adoption in relation to situations such as that which pertained in Abbeylara . . . will be considered in evidence."
Among the issues to be examined in the first module - the background to the shooting - are Mr Carthy's personal history, including his state of health and psychiatric condition, his family circumstances and work history, and his history as to the ownership and use of firearms.
The tribunal will also examine complaints made to local gardaí about Mr Carthy's possession of a firearm and alleged threats made by him, his detention and questioning by local gardaí in September 1998, and the effect of this detention on his attitude to the Garda.
In the second module, relating to the circumstances surrounding the shooting, the tribunal will examine what gave rise to the event, and specifically to a request for police intervention at his home.
Mr Justice Barr said the tribunal would also seek to establish who was in overall Garda command at Abbeylara and whether that person or any officer at the scene "had any particular instructions or training in dealing with an apparently dangerous man armed with a loaded shotgun who was not engaged in serious criminal activity per se, but was a person whose behaviour was likely to be the product of mental or psychiatric illness or other such disability".
The history and operation of the ERU, the situation regarding police training, and the law on gun licences and the right of citizens to possess and use firearms will be investigated in later modules.
Applications for representation were made yesterday by 36 unnamed gardaí; the Garda Commissioner; Mrs Rose and Ms Marie Carthy, the late Mr Carthy's mother and sister respectively; and Dr David Shanley, a psychiatrist who treated Mr Carthy. Two local GPs, Dr Pat Cullen and Dr Gerard Meaghar, applied for limited representation, while a number of other parties including the Garda representative groups, the GRA and AGSI, reserved their positions on the issue. A ruling on representation will be made this Friday.
The formal opening of the inquiry is at the County Council Chambers in Longford on February 12th. The tribunal said it hoped to begin oral hearings before the end of February in Dublin.
