The family of Mr John Carthy, who was shot dead by gardai during a siege at Abbeylara, Co Longford last April, will continue to seek a public inquiry into his death if they are refused rights of legal representation and cross-examination at the forthcoming Oireachtas inquiry into the shooting.
Their solicitor, Mr Peter Mullan of Garrett Sheehan & Co, said yesterday he was seeking clarification from the subcommittee of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality and Women's Rights on what rights the family would be afforded at the inquiry.
Mr Carthy (27) was shot dead by members of the Garda Emergency Response Unit following a 25-hour siege at his home on April 20th last year.
The sub-committee was formed last month to examine in public the internal Garda report on the shooting, and the 21 submissions on that report made by interested parties.
The inquiry will be "a sort of miniPublic Accounts Committee DIRT inquiry", its chairman, Mr Sean Ardagh TD, said. If this is the case, witnesses are likely to be allowed legal representation.
Public hearings by the sub-committee are due to begin in Dublin on April 24th, four days after the first anniversary of Mr Carthy's death. Mr Mullan expressed surprise that the Carthy family had not been informed of the date for hearings until contacted by The Irish Times.
The sub-committee will have powers to compel witnesses to appear under oath, and to order discovery of documents.
The internal Garda inquiry into the shooting, headed by Chief Supt Adrian Culligan, produced a 112-page report. It concluded that the ERU had no alternative but to shoot Mr Carthy when he emerged from his home with a shotgun. It contained no criticism of the actions which led to his killing.
Mr Ardagh said the sub-committee had yet to decide what issues from the Garda report it would deal with, and which witnesses it would call.
Issues likely to be examined include the decision to call the ERU to the scene, the failure to provide Mr Carthy with cigarettes during the siege, whether four shots should have been fired at Mr Carthy, the failure to get him a solicitor, the failure to allow his sister Marie access to him, and the decision to reissue Mr Carthy's shotgun to him after it had been confiscated in August 1998 when he had allegedly threatened to shoot a local man.
Submissions have been made to the sub-committee by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, the Carthy family and several people in the Abbeylara area.
The council, in its submission, described the tone of the internal Garda report as "deeply hurtful" to the Carthy family and to the friends of Mr Carthy. It recommended the holding of a full sworn public inquiry in Longford and inviting the UN Special Rapporteur on Extra-Judicial Killings to send an observer.
Mr Ardagh said all submissions would be carefully considered. He predicts the inquiry will take "weeks rather than months" and expects the seven-member sub-committee to sit for up to six hours a day, most days of the week, once public hearings begin.
TDs sitting on the sub-committee with Mr Ardagh include Ms Marian McGennis (FF), Mr John McGuinness (FF), Mr Alan Shatter (FG), Ms Monica Barnes (FG) and Mr Brendan Howlin (Lab). They will be joined by Senator Denis O'Donovan (FF).