A further five members of the Garda emergency response unit will give evidence from behind a screen at an inquest into the deaths of two men who were shot during a failed post office raid in Lusk, Co Dublin, two years ago.
The Dublin city coroner yesterday found in favour of an application by the State to allow the five Garda witnesses to have their faces screened for their protection when they give evidence into the deaths of Dublin men Eric Hopkins (24) and Colm Griffin (33).
The pair were shot dead when gardaí intercepted them during an attempted robbery in Lusk on May 26th, 2005.
The five gardaí, Eunan Malone, Terry Brennan, Jonah Roche, Enda Grogin and Brian Whelan, will be named in court, and they will be visible to the coroner, the jury, legal representatives and to accredited members of the press. However, they will not be able to be seen from the public gallery.
The coroner had already agreed to protect the anonymity of the two detectives who shot Griffin and Hopkins. They will be known as Det Garda A and Det Garda B when the three-day inquest begins on September 19th.