The most senior garda present at the armed stand-off in Abbeylara, Co Longford, told the Barr Tribunal he questioned why cigarettes had not been delivered to Mr John Carthy.
Assistant Garda Commissioner Tony Hickey said he was one of the few smokers at the scene on the day Mr Carthy was shot dead by gardaí. He was concerned that Mr Carthy had not been supplied with cigarettes since the siege began the previous day. "I did ask why they didn't throw the cigarettes in the window."
Mr Carthy, who was a heavy smoker, had first asked for cigarettes at 3.50 a.m. Mr Hickey arrived on the scene at 9 a.m.
He said he thought there would have been an ideal opportunity to deliver cigarettes when the Emergency Response Unit chief, Det Sgt Gerry Russell, had approached the house during the night to cut the TV cable and found Mr Carthy "resting" in a chair. "It crossed my mind that, when he did get that far, it was a pity he didn't have cigarettes with him."
However, Mr Hickey said he did not think it would have been helpful to throw the cigarettes over the wall, as suggested by Judge Barr, because the gardaí did not want to encourage Mr Carthy to leave the house carrying his shotgun.
Mr Hickey told the tribunal that he left the scene in the early afternoon, but remained in contact from his office in Mullingar. Shortly before 6 p.m. he was informed by Chief Supt Patrick Tansey that Mr Carthy had been shot. He returned to the scene.
That evening he met Mr Carthy's cousin, Mr Tom Walsh. Mr Walsh was crying, but said he thought the gardaí had "done everything in their power to resolve the thing".
Earlier, Mr Hickey explained why he had call in the ERU. "I was aware that the ERU had trained negotiators."
