A retired garda is facing a substantial legal costs bill, which could be more than €300,000, arising from a Supreme Court decision overturning an award to him of €175,000 in damages by a High Court jury over his arrest on suspicion of being an IRA member.
While quashing the award to retired garda Joe Walshe, the Supreme Court last July upheld a €100,000 award to a Limerick woman, Kay Bedford, who was arrested on the same day as Mr Walshe and who had sued for damages along with Mr Walshe.
It adjourned costs issues to yesterday, when it awarded costs to Ms Bedford against the State. They could total more than €500,000. The estimated costs of the entire High Court action, including the damages award to Ms Bedford, were €1.1 million.
The court also awarded costs for the initial High Court case to retired Det Insp Anthony Fennessy who was separately represented at the High Court and Supreme Court hearings and who secured a High Court order granting him indemnity against costs.
The legal proceedings were brought by Mr Walshe (63) of Oaklawn Drive, Dromin, Nenagh, Co Tipperary, and Ms Bedford (60), a separated mother of four, Sir Harry's Hill, Limerick.
Both were found by a High Court jury in May 2003 to have been unlawfully arrested in September 1991 in Limerick under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act and detained for three days on suspicion of IRA membership.
Mr Walshe was at the time a plain-clothes garda who had 33 years of service and Ms Bedford was on friendly terms with him. Both were brought to Dublin and detained for 40 hours at the Bridewell Garda station.
The State appealed the High Court jury's findings and damages awards and last July the Supreme Court upheld the award to Ms Bedford but found the arrest of Garda Walshe had been valid.
The court found the arrests took place as part of an investigation into "a matter of major concern" to the Garda authorities - the infiltration of the Garda ranks in Limerick by the IRA.