AN Oireachtas committee has heard that the man who died in a shooting incident in an Irish shopping centre received guns in a controlled delivery by Gardai.
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris was questioned about Evan Fitzgerald by Labour TD Alan Kelly and former Minister for Justice Michael McDowell before the Dail Justice Committee.
Evan Fitzgerald, 22, from Portrushen Upper near Kiltegan in Wicklow, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after firing a number of shots in Fairgreen Shopping Centre in Carlow on June 1.
He appeared in court last year after being arrested by Gardai and charged with offences relating to firearms he allegedly bought on the dark web.
Harris was questioned regarding how Fitzgerald got the firearms when he appeared before the committee alongside his Deputy Commissioners Justin Kelly and Shawna Coxon.
Labour TD Kelly queried if it had been a “controlled delivery” of guns and ammunition, saying he had “serious concerns” that undercover Gardai met and arrested the 22-year-old and two others who were then charged with alleged firearms offences.
A controlled delivery is a method used world-wide, and sees a suspect being given illicit items by an undercover police officer after trying to get them.
Kelly asked: “Did undercover gardaí engage face-to-face with this young man prior to this delivery of guns and ammunition?”
Harris said he was unable to discuss the provenance of the firearms and where they came from, and could not confirm if Gardai engaged in a controlled delivery as two other people are before the courts.
He said: “I would say that controlled delivery is very sensitive police methodology.
“We use it for both organised crime and for our terrorist defence”.
After the two-hour hearing, he was quizzed by Michael McDowell and proceeded to expand on his response, saying: “You’ll be aware that controlled delivery is a tactic that’s often used around both firearms and drugs operations. So this follows a classic controlled delivery.”
COMPLIANT
He also added that the case had been examined since Fitzgerald died on June 1, and it was found that he was compliant in his interactions with Gardai, along with his bail conditions.
He explained: “Might I say then that obviously there has been an examination following the terrible incidents of the first of June.
“We’ve looked to what we knew of this individual beforehand, and I just, I want to be very careful, because he’s been described so many [ways] in the media, but in our interactions with him, he was compliant.
“He complied with his bail conditions up until the first of June, and certainly by his behaviors, we didn’t anticipate the events of the first of June. It was an extraordinary event”.
The committee heard that the office of the Police Ombudsman, Fiosru, examined an investigation file into the controlled delivery and concluded that there was no issue of concern.
In response to a question from Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon, Deputy Commissioner Justin Kelly told the committee that the far right is “a huge concern”.
FAR RIGHT OF ‘HUGE CONCERN’
Kelly noted that counter terror detectives in the Special Detective Unit, the Gardai’s anti-terrorist branch, were examining “violent political extremism” full time.
He added that cops on a national and local level monitor online activity surrounding protests and specialist training.
Kelly then noted that equipment has been given to Gardai.
He explained: “Absolutely, to your specific question the far right.
“Of course, it’s a huge concern to us, absolutely huge concern to us.
“We have dedicated officers in the special detective unit, our counterterrorism operational unit, and that’s all they do”.
