Month: May 2000
The Abbeylara Incident: The Killing of John Carthy
This article was formerly titled "The State of Policing". It deals with the killing of John Carthy, in April 2000, by Irish police (Gardai), in Abbeylara, Co. Longford. The incident has caused six years of controversy, culminating in the Barr Tribunal. 'Security, the friendly mask of change at which we smile, not seeing what smiles behind' - Edward A. Robinson Let me get one thing straight. I have no personal gripe with the Gardaà (Irish police), despite having being accosted, searched and questioned on several occasions for no apparent reason other than keeping strange hours or minding my own business. In fact, years ago, the Gardaà once saved me from a rather nasty situation, where I was, with some friends, under siege in our apartment. Outside were a considerable number of crazy folk, armed with knives. We had committed no sin - in fact, it was a case of mistaken...