The inquest into the deaths of two post office raiders shot by armed Garda detectives may not take place until 2008 if it is adjourned while another man is charged in relation to the incident.
The family of Dublin men - Colm Griffin (33), and Eric Hopkins (24) - objected to an adjournment being sought until the trial of another person, arrested at the post office in Lusk, Co Dublin, is finished.
John Byrne, for the families, queried whether the State could seek an adjournment under Section 25 (2)
Gardai outside the post office at Lusk where the shooting took place in May last year.
of the Coroner's Act as the court case was not relating to the actual deaths of the two men.
The inquest heard a man was charged with possession of a firearm with intent to commit an offence, attempted robbery and unlawful use of a car in relation to the incident in Lusk in May 2005.
Mr Byrne highlighted the case was at the disclosure stage and due to the lengthy waiting times for Circuit Court trials it would be next summer before the case could be heard by a jury, and it would be 2008 before it is finished in the case of an appeal.
Fergal Foley, for the State, said this was a case where great care had to be taken by all sides in the disclosure of evidence. "Nothing can be done to identify the source of information gardaí had," he said.
Mr Foley said the anonymity of individual gardai involved in the shooting incident must be preserved, and video footage was going to have to be masked to protect gardaí. "There is quite a level of care that has to be taken in relation to disclosure," he said.
Mr Foley said the man in question would be a highly relevant witness to the inquest. He said it would be unfair if the man was exercising his right to trial by jury to call him to give evidence before the inquest.
Mr Foley said the prosecutions pending against the man were intimately linked to the two deaths.
Counsel for the family said the coroner could possibly consider adjourning the inquest under his common law powers rather than the Act which would necessitate waiting until the entire trial is over.
Dr Brian Farrell, who adjourned the inquest until July 26th, said there was an important legal point at issue as to whether the Act applied in the case of a trial that was not directly related to the deaths of the two men.
PA