A Garda sergeant yesterday (Wednesday) recalled how a split developed within the force in Co Donegal during the early 1990s when alleged IRA informer Adrienne McGlinchey arrived on the scene.
Sergeant John O'Keeffe said of the Letterkenny woman – a central figure in the Morris Tribunal's probe of garda corruption – "she appeared to have a licence to do what she liked".
He and another garda witness told the inquiry how Ms McGlinchey had been consistently released from custody without being charged, despite being found in possession of incriminating potential terrorist materials like bomb-parts and bullets after a series of arrests.
Problems began when Ms McGlinchey went to live in Buncrana, where Sergeant O'Keeffe – then a detective garda – was stationed at the time.
Some gardai had treated her as a serious source of information about IRA activities, but he and others, had doubts.
He had been in two minds about her because she "tended to treat everything like a joke, and was living a Hollywood existence".
Ms McGlinchey and her friend Yvonne Devine had been attention-seeking and become a nuisance and an irritation. And, after a time, he personally, decided to ignore them.
"I formed the opinion there was no way they were involved in any organisation like the IRA," the garda said.
"The suspicion was that they were fooling their handlers. The idea that they were colluding with their handlers did not come at the beginning."
He and other gardai used to refer to the two women, in code, as 'K' and 'P' – after a well-known brand of nuts. But after Ms McGlinchey was found possessing arms, he was directed by a senior officer – Superintendent John O'Connor – not to proceed in her case, as she was being handled by another officer, Detective Garda Noel McMahon.
The Dublin-based tribunal – headed by former High Court President Mr Justice Frederick Morris – is currently examining allegations against gardai in Co Donegal in the 1990s claiming that Ms McGlinchey, together with Detective Garda McMahon and Detective Superintendent Kevin Lennon – both currently suspended – mixed explosives that were later used in bogus garda finds of terrorist arms.
The inquiry has returned to the explosives dimension of the allegations against the gardai after a gap of four months. In recent days, the proceedings have gone on in-camera for sensitive security reasons.
In the meantime, the tribunal has looked into separate allegations, centring on controversy over the mystery roadside death in Donegal seven years ago of Raphoe cattle dealer Richie Barron. That module of the process has now been adjourned until the New Year, and others are due to be dealt with later.
The tribunal was put in place by the Oireachtas almost two years ago to inquire into a wide-ranging series of claims about improper garda activities in the Co Donegal division.
The proceedings began earlier this year, and, in all, the investigation is expected to go on for at least two years.
Dealing with Garda divisions that coincided with the appearance in Buncrana of Ms McGlinchey, Sergeant O'Keeffe said: "There was a split, if you like in the unit.
"There had been a good working relationship, but afterwards the atmosphere in the unit was not good. because of the divisions that appeared.
"I recall an occasion when Detective Garda McMahon shouted at me 'what camp are you in?'"
He also reported on a conversation with Mr Mahon, who had been drinking heavily and told him he had driven a bomb across the border into Strabane, Co Tyrone, to cover for Ms McGlinchey.
"I thought it was incredible and bunkum. He was the sort of guy who would say anything about anybody for a bit of fun," he said.
Earlier, a detective witness detailed how more than 10 years ago he arrested Ms McGlinchey when she was carrying a possible terrorist bomb part only to find the following day that she had been released without charge.
