BY C.J MCGINLEY
THE appointment of former Donegal Garda Superintendent to the garda reserve interview board has been strongly criticised by members of the McBrearty and McConnell families in Raphoe.
Former Superintendent John Fitzgerald was one of the senior officers heavily criticised in the Morris Report for his handling of the 'utterly negligent' investigation into the death of cattle dealer Richie Barron in October 1996.
Mr Fitzgerald was the district officer in Letterkenny from the time of Mr Barron's death until February 1997 when he was moved to a new post in Manorhamilton, Co Leitrim. Mark McConnell along with his cousin Frank Mc Brearty Junior was wrongly accused of involvement in the death of Richie Barron in 1996.
Speaking to the Donegal News on Wednesday Mark McConnell said the appointment 'beggared belief'. Mr McConnell confirmed he would be writing to the Garda Commissioner to find out who made the appointment and he would be asking that it be revoked.
"This appointment is absolutely incredible. What sort of example is it for garda reserves to be interviewed by a former officer who was heavily criticised in the Morris Report. I've established the Department of Justice were not aware of the appointment so it begs the questions who is calling the shots here," he said.
"|t is bad enough the senior gardai criticised in the Morris Report walked away with golden handshakes and their big pensions but now they're being appointed to positions like this. We feel this is a slap in the face to the Morris Report and the victims in Donegal," he said.
Mr Fitzgerald's explanation about how he handled the false confession of Frank McBrearty jnr relating to Mr Barron's death was not accepted by the tribunal. Its report of June 2005, noted the investigation into Mr Barron's death was "prejudiced, tendentious and utterly negligent in the highest degree".
Mr Fitzgerald, and three other members "in various degrees bear the burden of fault for this matter" the tribunal concluded.
However, despite the criticism he was recruited to the new Garda Reserve and conducted interviews in Sligo. His appointment only became known when a former member of the force applied to become a reservist and recognised Mr Fitzgerald.
Mr McConnell said the Morris Report had found that there was gross negligence on the part of senior officers involved in the investigation in their analysis and objectivity in assessing statements fuelled by the unwarranted conviction that he and Frank McBrearty jnr were involved in the death of Richie Barron.
"The Morris Report also found that Superintendent Fitzgerald failed to take disciplinary action against gardai over their failure to preserve the scene on the night of Richie Barron's death. This should have been the response of Supt Fitzgerald but he was found to be dilatory and had swept it under the carpet," he said.
Mr McConnell said it was appalling that the senior garda at Letterkenny Garda Station at the time of the investigation was now being appointed to a position of responsibility.
A spokesman for the Tanaiste and Minister for Justice Michael McDowell said Mr Fitzgerald had helped conduct interviews for a short period, understood to be one day.
This had been done by An Garda Siochana without the knowledge of the department. The spokesman added that it was common practice for retired members to conduct interviews because officers could not be spared to attend the large number of interviews taking place relating to reservist recruitment.
In its report of June 2005 the Morris tribunal said that while Mr Fitzgerald, was an able and experienced officer, he had made a fundamental error in failing to request the then State Pathologist Prof John Harbison to attend the scene of Mr Barron's death. The tribunal concluded that Prof Harbison could have clarified that the cattle dealer had died in an accident and that the subsequent murder investigation would never have been launched.
Mr Justice Morris also said while he believed a conversation had taken place between Mr Fitzgerald and Prof Harbison, he was satisfied there was never an expressed request for the State Pathologist to attend the scene.
