Witness accused of 'lying through his teeth'

THE MORRIS TRIBUNAL: Ms Adrienne McGlinchey's counsel has claimed that a witness was "lying through his teeth" when he said …

THE MORRIS TRIBUNAL: Ms Adrienne McGlinchey's counsel has claimed that a witness was "lying through his teeth" when he said she tried to bribe him to support her story.

Mr Pearse Devine had told the Morris tribunal that Ms McGlinchey said she would get more than €1 million in a claim against the State for Garda harassment, and would "see him right" if he backed up her story about gardaí storing explosive materials in her mother's shed.

Mr Devine is a brother of Ms Yvonne Devine, who once lived with Ms McGlinchey.

Yesterday, Ms McGlinchey's counsel, Mr Paul Murray SC, said Mr Devine's story was "total fabrication" and "a complete and utter lie".

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"You are lying through your teeth, Mr Devine, aren't you?" Mr Murray said.

"Your client is lying through her teeth," Mr Devine replied.

Mr Murray pointed out that Mr Devine had neither told his sister, Yvonne, nor the tribunal investigation team about the alleged bribe.

The first anyone heard about it was at the tribunal on Wednesday when he was asked if anyone had approached him in relation to giving evidence to the tribunal. He had even got the date wrong as he had said the conversation happened before the tribunal was set up.

"The tribunal was in the pipelines," Mr Devine said.

He said he didn't get a chance to tell the tribunal's investigator, Chief Supt Brian Garvie, about the bribe because the investigator was too busy.

"He came, he took his interview and he was away," he said.

The tribunal's investigators just accepted everything Ms McGlinchey said. She was manipulating Chief Supt Garvie's team just as she was manipulating her legal counsel, Mr Devine said.

"Your client is seriously misleading you," he told Mr Murray.

Asked why he had told his sister about an alleged threat from Ms McGlinchey but not about the bribe, he said his sister found out about the threat because his girlfriend had partly overheard the conversation. He said Ms McGlinchey had warned him that Yvonne had better "play ball" with her or she would have no option but to drag them into the whole affair.

Mr Murray put it to him that the conversation in question was about a baking tray of fertiliser that he had put in the attic of her restaurant. "I never said nothing of the sort, sorry. Your client is misleading you," Mr Devine said.

He said he knew "absolutely nothing" about grinding fertiliser or moving fertiliser.

He denied giving walkie-talkies to Ms McGlinchey. These were found to be stolen from the fire brigade when they were subsequently seized by gardaí.

Ms McGlinchey had claimed she had not mentioned Mr Devine's involvement because he was young and she was trying to protect him. He did not accept this. "It's all fictional as far as I can see." Ms McGlinchey was stalking him and interrogating him "in a polite manner".

Mr Justice Morris asked why Ms McGlinchey would tell lies about him. "I think she's just picking on me. She's just trying to fill in gaps," he said.

The tribunal heard Mr Devine had expressed fears that his safety would be at risk from loyalists and republicans because he had been interviewed by the tribunal team. "If I went into the North, I would be fearful for my security."

Alison Healy

Alison Healy

Alison Healy is a contributor to The Irish Times