Morris tribunal:Letterkenny nightclubs continued to serve alcohol freely while gardaí paid special attention to the business of Frank McBrearty snr, a nephew of the Raphoe publican said.
Eamonn McConnell worked as a head barman for his uncle, who claims that after his family were wrongly identified as murder suspects following the hit-and-run death of cattle-dealer Richie Barron, gardaí tried to drive him out of business.
Gardaí say that strict enforcement of the licensing laws in Raphoe was part of a countywide policy to enforce the law and reduce alcohol-related public order problems.
But Mr McConnell said that when he and his brother visited three nightclubs in nearby Letterkenny one night in January 1997 "the bars were flat out, with no sign of a guard in sight. I think that night we proved the point that it wasn't happening anywhere else, it was just happening in Raphoe - Frankie's was targeted".
Mr McConnell said that when he told Sgt John White what he had seen in Letterkenny, the sergeant said: "I'll look into it or something, I'll bring it up at a meeting."
Mr McConnell told the tribunal that in the nightclub where he worked "the bars were closed when the guards were there".
"And when they left?" tribunal barrister Paul McDermott asked. "We opened them again."
Mr McConnell said that in the year after the death of Mr Barron gardaí were "camped out" in the nightclub and frequently placed a traffic checkpoint in the town.
He criticised Garda handling of bomb scares in the town - which turned out to be hoaxes - as "unprofessional".
Mr McConnell said he had told the truth when he said during District Court hearings that the shutters in the bar of Mr McBrearty's nightclub were closed at midnight. If he had been asked if the bar was reopened later, he would have told the truth. His disagreement over the District Court video evidence recorded by an undercover garda was with the time she said the bars had opened.
The tribunal resumes tomorrow.