Mark McConnell, the Donegal man who earlier this week failed to appear before the Morris tribunal and faced High Court action to compel him to give evidence, has contacted the inquiry into Garda corruption and told them he will appear before it.
Mr Justice Frederick Morris said yesterday that because Mr McConnell had proposed an acceptable date to appear, it would no longer be necessary to proceed with the proposed court action.
"Any steps taken in that direction will now be withdrawn," the chairman said. "I am very grateful that arrangements have been made which are acceptable both to the tribunal and to Mr McConnell and we welcome him here to give evidence when he comes."
Mr McConnell (35) was arrested three times during the investigation into the death of cattle dealer Richie Barron in 1996. The tribunal has found that Mr Barron died as a result of a hit-and-run collision, and Mr McConnell was completely innocent of any involvement in his death.
Both Mr McConnell and his cousin, Frank McBrearty jnr, were arrested for murder, and Mr McConnell's wife Róisín and her two sisters were among 12 people wrongly arrested by Donegal gardaí. Mr McBrearty jnr has said he will not attend the inquiry.
The tribunal chairman also said that more than three gardaí may have been involved in a conspiracy to alter documents in the investigation file into the death of Mr Barron.
Mr Justice Morris said it was agreed by all the witnesses that "a conspiracy was embarked upon" to remove documents from the Barron incident room and replace them with other documents. The conspiracy involved retired superintendent John McGinley, Sgt Brian McEntee and Garda John Harkin.
He said he had been told the "broad detail" of the plan, but had heard nothing of how the plan was achieved. "I think that that is essential for me to know," he said. "I find it very hard to accept that none of the participants in this enterprise is in a position to inform me as to what happened after the agreement was reached between them.
"I make no secret of the fact that it may well be that in achieving the objective, they involved others, and I need to know what exactly was going on in Letterkenny Garda station at the time," he said.
Garda Frank Feely told the tribunal that a note he made in official records meant that Det Sgt John White asked him for some documents from the Barron investigation file.