Latest news with #Fiosrú
Irish Times
01-07-2025
- Irish Times
Police ombudsman investigating circumstances of Evan Fitzgerald's death
Officials from Fiosrú, the Police Ombudsman, are investigating the circumstances around the death of Evan Fitzgerald, who took his life in a Carlow shopping centre last month. Investigators from the ombudsman's office are in close contact with the Fitzgerald family and providing them with regular updates, sources said. The investigation is mandated under law as the 22-year-old from Wicklow had interactions with the gardaí around the time of his death, which occurred on June 1st in Fairgreen Shopping Centre. Mr Fitzgerald fired several shots into the air using a stolen shotgun before turning the gun on himself. However, Fiosrú also confirmed it is not investigating two other referrals relating to the actions gardaí took while investigating Mr Fitzgerald for possession of firearms last March. READ MORE Politicians have accused gardaí of attempting to 'entrap' the young man during the investigation and of misleading a judge. An Garda Síochána has strongly denied the accusations and said it used standard, internationally accepted tactics to protect the safety of the public. On Monday, Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan declined to comment on the matter until two linked court cases are completed. A spokesman for the Minister said he has been briefed by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris on the case 'both orally and in writing'. Speaking to The Irish Times on Monday, a spokeswoman for Fiosrú detailed its activity in relation to the case. She said on the day after Mr Fitzgerald's death, it received a referral from a Garda superintendent under section 203 (1) of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024. [ Carlow gunman Evan Fitzgerald had other weapons Opens in new window ] [ How 'controlled deliveries' are used in Garda sting operations Opens in new window ] This mandates that An Garda Síochána must refer any case to the Ombudsman where it appears 'that the act or omission of a member of garda personnel may have resulted in the death of, or serious harm to, a person'. Mr Fitzgerald took his life after armed gardaí arrived on the scene in response to reports of gunfire. Gardaí did not fire any rounds. Fiosrú confirmed it has appointed a senior officer to conduct the investigation. 'This matter remains open and under investigation. Fiosrú has and will continue to liaise with Evan Fitzgerald's family in this regard,' the spokeswoman said. Separately, she said the ombudsman received 'a notification of an incident of concern' on May 21st relating to the case. It is understood the referral related to allegations that gardaí had mislead a District Court judge during a previous bail hearing for Mr Fitzgerald. During the hearing, the judge was told gardaí were still investigating the source of the firearms Mr Fitzgerald had in his possession when he was stopped by members of the Emergency Response Unit in March. It later emerged that undercover gardaí sold him the two guns after being tipped off that Mr Fitzgerald was attempting to source weapons on the internet. Both weapons had been decommissioned by gardaí. One of them was a G3 assault rifle stolen by the IRA from Norwegian reserves in 1984 and recovered more than 20 years ago. Labour TD Alan Kelly and Independent senator Michael McDowell have characterised the operation as 'entrapment' of Mr Fitzgerald. Fiosrú said that on receiving the complaint it had requested further information from gardaí. After examining this, it opted not to open an investigation. Last Wednesday, Fiosrú received a further referral relating to An Garda Síochána action, this time from the commissioner. Mr Harris made the referral after politicians accused the force of misleading the court. Again, the ombudsman's office decided the matter did not warrant a full investigation. 'As the matters concerned were the same in substance as those outlined in the previous notification of 21st of May 2025, there was nothing further to be considered by Fiosrú,' the spokeswoman said, adding that it cannot, by law, make any further comment for the moment. Speaking last week, the commissioner defended An Garda Síochána's actions in the case and raised the recent school shooting 'by a lone gunman' in Austria, which left 11 people dead. 'This is sadly a more frequent occurrence,' he said. 'There is very insidious material on the internet which seeks to radicalise young people. We have to look at the individual and the threat to the general public and deal with that appropriately. 'I have to say, this was a very successful operation in that we made sure a threat to the public did not arise from the circumstances we were dealing with.'
RTÉ News
29-06-2025
- Politics
- RTÉ News
Fiosrú taking no further action in Carlow gunman case
The Police Ombudsman, Fiosrú, has said it has decided to take no further action in relation to the case of Evan Fitzgerald, who fired shots in the air in a Co Carlow shopping centre before taking his own life. Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said this week that he had referred "serious allegations" made about the garda handling of the case to the ombudsman. Questions were raised in the Oireachtas about the way in which gardaí conducted their investigation into Mr Fitzgerald, who, prior to his death, was awaiting trial for possession of illegal weapons. The weapons had been supplied to him by gardaí as part of an undercover operation after they became aware that the 22-year-old tried to buy guns on the dark web. The weapon he used at the Carlow shopping centre was not one supplied to him by gardaí. Independent Senator Michael McDowell and Labour TD Alan Kelly raised concerns about the techniques deployed by gardaí in the case. In the Seanad, Senator McDowell said the case was one of "entrapment" and also claimed that "untruths" were told to a District Court judge when he was deciding whether to grant Mr Fitzgerald bail. On RTÉ's This Week programme, Senator McDowell suggested it may have been "premature" of Fiosrú not to take any further action. He said he did not know if the police ombudsman's office listened to the digital audio recording from the District Court. He said if they have not, it was premature of them not to take further action in relation to what he described as "a serious issue". Mr McDowell said he asked the Department of Justice to arrange for the matter to be fully investigated. The senator said there were other options available to the gardaí, including confronting Mr Fitzgerald and his family about what he had done. Commissioner Harris told the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee this week that he took note of the comments made in the Seanad by Mr McDowell and referred them to Fiosrú for consideration. Fiosrú told RTÉ's This Week programme that Mr Harris has no authority to ask the ombudsman to investigate any matter. It added that after considering the two notifications of concern from An Garda Síochána in relation to this case, it decided that no further action was required by the police ombudsman. At the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee, Commissioner Harris described the garda investigation as "a very successful operation in which we made sure that a threat to the public did not arise from the circumstances we were dealing with". "Subsequent events, tragic as they were on 1 June, were obviously very tragic, but they did not arise from our operation that we conducted," he said.
Sunday World
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Sunday World
An Garda Síochána facing legal action over Denis Donaldson investigation
The ombudsman said in a letter to the Donaldson family that it believed gardai had failed to fulfil a request for information necessary for its investigation. Fiosrú is taking An Garda Síochána to court over its failure to comply with an investigation into the murder of MI5 informant Denis Donaldson, it's been reported. Mr Donaldson, formerly a member of the IRA, was murdered in his Co Donegal cottage in 2006 several months after outing himself as a British spy. The Real IRA admitted to shooting the high-ranking Sinn Fein official three years later. The ombudsman said in a letter to the Donaldson family that it believed gardai had failed to fulfil a request for information necessary for its investigation. Double agent Denis Donaldson was shot dead in 2006 News in 90 Seconds - 15th June 2025 Fiosrú told the family it would begin legal proceedings in Dublin Circuit Civil Court seeking an order for disclosure, RTÉ also reported. An Garda Síochána declined for comment adding it did not remark on Fiosrú matters. Enda McGarrity, the Donaldson family's lawyer, said the watchdog's investigation had taken place over the course of three years. 'We now understand that Fiosrú are commencing legal proceedings against An Garda Síochána arising out of a failure to comply with aspects of the investigation,' she said. 'That's a matter of significant concern to the family because the body which is charged with investigating the murder of Denis Donaldson are now not only being investigated, but failing to comply with investigation and that gives rise to family's wider concern that the State are currently not delivering an effective investigation.' It comes after Gerry Adams won a defamation case against the BBC in May following a story in 2016 in which it was claimed he was linked to the murder of Mr Donaldson. The five-week trial centred on an anonymous source in a BBC NI Spotlight programme claiming Mr Adams had sanctioned the shooting by giving 'the final say'. The 76-year-old, who had always denied the allegation, described it as a 'grievous smear' and accused the BBC of upholding 'the ethos of the British state in Ireland'. Mr Adams was awarded €100,000 in damages by the High Court jury in Dublin. The BBC reported the legal bill could cost up to €4.9 and is understood to be one of the most expensive cases they have ever fought.
Belfast Telegraph
15-06-2025
- Politics
- Belfast Telegraph
An Garda Síochána facing legal action over Denis Donaldson investigation
Mr Donaldson, formerly a member of the IRA, was murdered in his Co Donegal cottage in 2006 several months after outing himself as a British spy. The Real IRA admitted to shooting the high-ranking Sinn Fein official three years later. The Irish police ombudsman, Fiosrú, said in a letter to the Donaldson family that it believed gardai had failed to fulfil a request for information necessary for its investigation. Fiosrú told the family it would begin legal proceedings in Dublin Circuit Civil Court seeking an order for disclosure, RTE also reported. An Garda Síochána declined for comment adding it did not remark on Fiosrú matters. Enda McGarrity, the Donaldson family's lawyer, said the watchdog's investigation had taken place over the course of three years. 'We now understand that Fiosrú are commencing legal proceedings against An Garda Síochána arising out of a failure to comply with aspects of the investigation,' she said. 'That's a matter of significant concern to the family because the body which is charged with investigating the murder of Denis Donaldson are now not only being investigated, but failing to comply with investigation and that gives rise to family's wider concern that the State are currently not delivering an effective investigation.' It comes after Gerry Adams won a defamation case against the BBC in May following a story in 2016 in which it was claimed he was linked to the murder of Mr Donaldson. In Profile: Former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams The five-week trial centred on an anonymous source in a BBC NI Spotlight programme claiming Mr Adams had sanctioned the shooting by giving 'the final say'. The 76-year-old, who had always denied the allegation, described it as a 'grievous smear' and accused the BBC of upholding 'the ethos of the British state in Ireland'. Mr Adams was awarded £84,000 in damages by the High Court jury in Dublin. The BBC reported the legal bill could cost up to £4.2m and is understood to be one of the most expensive cases they have ever fought.
RTÉ News
15-06-2025
- Politics
- RTÉ News
An Garda Síochána facing legal action over Denis Donaldson investigation
A policing oversight body is taking legal action against An Garda Síochána over its failure to comply with an investigation into the murder of British agent Denis Donaldson in Co Donegal almost 20 years ago. Fiosrú, which replaced the Garda Síochána Ombudsman's Commission (GSOC), has informed the Donaldson family of the move. In a letter it said it took the view that gardaí had not complied with a request for information required for its investigation. Accordingly, it said the ombudsman had decided to commence proceedings in Dublin Circuit Civil Court seeking an order for disclosure, adding that the case was in its early stages. Both Fiosrú and An Garda Síochána declined to comment. An Garda Síochána said it did not comment on Fiosrú matters. The Donaldson's family solicitor, Enda McGarrity, said the Fiosrú investigation had been ongoing for three years. "We now understand that Fiosrú are commencing legal proceedings against An Garda Síochána arising out of a failure to comply with aspects of the investigation. "That's a matter of significant concern to the family because the body which is charged with investigating the murder of Denis Donaldson are now not only being investigated, but failing to comply with investigation and that gives rise to family's wider concern that the State are currently not delivering an effective investigation." Taoiseach Micheál Martin said on Friday that he would be happy to meet the Donaldson family to discuss their concerns. Denis Donaldson was a senior Sinn Féin official working at Stormont who had been accused of being part of a republican spy-ring there. He was exposed as a long-standing British agent when the criminal case against him and others was discontinued in December 2005. He was shot dead in the family's remote cottage near Glenties in April 2006, weeks after he had been photographed and spoken to there by a newspaper journalist. Three years ago Mr Donaldson's daughter, Jane, complained to GSOC raising concerns about how the gardaí had responded to information about the threat to her father's life. She claimed that despite being told by the PSNI of an increased risk to Mr Donaldson's life after he was approached by the media, it failed to take adequate measures to protect him. Dissident republicans claimed the murder, but the family say it has an "open mind" about who was responsible. Former Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams successfully sued the BBC after it broadcast a documentary claiming he had sanctioned the shooting. He had vehemently denied the accusation. An inquest into the circumstances of Mr Donaldson's murder has been adjourned on 27 occasions due to the ongoing garda murder investigation. The family is also keen to have their father's journal returned. Gardaí have declined to return it, despite earlier assurances that it would be handed back. The family believes it may cast light on the lead up to Mr Donaldson's murder. They would like the Irish Government to establish a commission of investigation which can take evidence in both open and closed hearings. They believe it is the best way to get to the truth of what happened. An investigation by Northern Ireland's Police Ombudsman found the PSNI had failed to carry out a formal updated risk assessment on Mr Donaldson after he was visited by the media. The family is taking a civil action against the police and others on the basis of that report.
