Pressure has intensified for an investigation into allegations that the phones of lawyers for the McBrearty family were tapped. The Bar Council yesterday joined the Law Society in calling for a full inquiry.
In a statement, the Bar Council said it had written to the Garda Commissioner seeking a response to the allegations and his assurance that an full investigation would take place.
"The Bar Council views any attempt at unlawful surveillance to be a fundamental assault on one of the pivotal tenets of the barrister's profession," the statement said. "At the heart of our existence are the core values of independence and of serving the public in a privileged, secure and confidential environment.
"Accordingly, if any such attempt did or should take place, the Bar Council and the entirety of the profession would immediately take all such steps as are necessary to ensure its immediate cessation and to ensure that those responsible for such activities, which are calculated to undermine the justice system, would face the full rigours of the law."
Meanwhile, Binchy's, the solicitors' firm that made the allegations, confirmed that it had asked the Law Society to take up the matter with the appropriate authorities, and endorsed the society's handling of the matter.
In a statement, the firm said: "In mid-July we approached the Law Society and asked it, on our behalf, to contact the appropriate authorities to investigate our concerns on the basis of information, from sources known to us to be reliable, that certain of the lawyers involved in advising Mr McBrearty and his family were the subject of electronic surveillance. The referral was made by us on the basis that the Law Society, as our representative body, was the appropriate body to deal with this matter on our behalf.
"We are satisfied with the manner in which the Law Society has dealt with and continues to deal with this matter. We stand fully behind the statements made in this matter by the Law Society."