Morris tribunal inquiries: central figures
Richie Barron
Richie Barron was a cattle dealer who lived with his wife at Townparks, Raphoe.
The tribunal found that Mr Barron had spent the evening of October 13th, 1996 drinking in a number of pubs in the town.
It heard that during the evening he was involved in two incidents in separate pubs. One of these was minor, involving a man named Mark McConnell. The tribunal heard that the second was "a wee scuffle" with a customer in a second pub.
Mr Justice Frederick Morris said that when he was last seen alive, Mr Barron was "in an inebriated state" making his way from the Diamond area of Raphoe.
The tribunal was satisfied that Mr Barron turned up in Irish Row at some time between 00.30 and 00.40 in the early hours of October 14th and "completed his journey with fatal consequences at some time between 00.40 and 00.55".
The report says that all the evidence now points to Mr Barron's death having been a hit and run accident.
Frank McBrearty jnr
Frank McBrearty jnr was employed as a manager in Frankie's nightclub in Raphoe which was owned by his father Frank McBrearty snr.
On the day of Richie Barron's death he had spent the afternoon playing football with his young son. He arrived for work at between 8.30pm and 9.00pm.
The tribunal found that the gardaí had developed a theory that after an incident in a pub in the town between Mr Barron and Mr McBrearty's cousin, Mark McConnell, that the pair had later lain in wait for the cattle dealer and assaulted him at some stage between 00.30 and 00.55 in the morning as he made his way home in an inebriated state.
However, Mr Justice Morris said this theory was completely without foundation.
The tribunal found the evidence was that Mr McBrearty jnr had spent the evening working in his father's pub and disco, and that he had had virtually no possibility of absenting himself from the premises for long enough to carry out an assault on Mr Barron. At no stage during the night was he in Mr McConnell's company.
Mark McConnell
Mark McConnell was the first cousin of Frank McBrearty jnr. An accomplished musician, he played in a band that performed in various venues around the country.
He was involved in what was described as a minor incident with Richie Barron in a pub in Raphoe on the evening of his death.
The tribunal said that the gardaí had received numerous statements that Mr McConnell had been drinking until around 1.30am - some time after Mr Barron's body had been found on the road. However, there were also other statements that put Mr McConnell around the town of Raphoe at an earlier stage in the evening.
Mr Justice Morris said that "while investigating gardaí were perfectly correct to harbour some suspicions in relation to Mr McConnell's activities based on the conflicting statements, they were certainly not entitled to assume his guilt, as they appear to have done, by reason of them".
He said this assumption had arisen because "members of the incident room team were emotionally consumed by the presumption of his guilt".
Michael Peoples
Michael Peoples lived with his wife, Charlotte, at St Eunan's Terrace in Raphoe. On the evening of October 13th, 1996 they were drinking in the Town and Country pub on William Street and witnessed the altercation between Richie Barron and Mark McConnell.
At one stage Mr Peoples was suspected by gardaí of being among a group who assaulted Mr Barron. The tribunal maintained that it was difficult to understand how he came to be the focus of attention as a possible culprit.It said there was no evidence that he had been involved in the row in the pub involving Mr Barron, or that he had ever known him or had anything to do with him.
The report found that a Garda informant made several extortion phone calls to Mr Peoples. He said he would place Mr Peoples at the scene of the accident if a substantial sum of money was not paid. The informant's Garda handler was aware of these calls and the report found that one was made from his home.
Mr Peoples played along with the blackmailer but immediately told the gardaí. The report found that "unthinkable as it may now seem" his apparent willingness to pay the money - which was not a fact at all - was construed by a prejudiced investigation team as an admission of guilt.
Mr Justice Frederick Morris
Mr Justice Frederick Morris was appointed in March 2002 as the sole member of the Tribunal of Inquiry to investigate complaints against gardaí in Donegal
A former President of the High Court, Mr Justice Morris was born in Kilkenny in 1929. He was called to the bar in 1952 and became a senior counsel in 1973. After a distinguished career at the bar, he was made a High Court judge in 1990 and appointed to the Special Criminal Court the following year. He became President of the High Court in 1998.
Compiled by Martin Wall