The Gardaí have said that there will be no publication of their investigations surrounding Thursday's shooting dead of a man in County Longford. John Carthy was shot by Gardaí after he emerged from his home armed with a double-barrelled shotgun. But Fine Gael's Jim Higgins is calling for the internal Garda inquiry to be made public. He has said that he will bring the issue up in the Dáil when it resumes next month.
Two investigations are underway by Gardaí into the death on Thursday of John Carthy. Once a shooting of any sort takes place, local Gardaí must carry out their own investigation but due to the particular nature of Thursday's shooting, a special garda inquiry is also underway.
John Carthy was 27-years-old. He had fired around 20 shots at Gardaí during the 26 hour siege at his home in Abbeylara in County Longford. On Thursday evening, he emerged from the house armed with a shotgun. Gardaí have said that he ignored repeated calls to drop his weapon. He was shot a number of times and died at the scene. In Abbeylara today the search is still continuing. The road leading to the house has been closed again as technical experts scour the area.
The Gardaí have said that it is common practice not to make public such inquiries but the details of the events surrounding Thursday's stand-off should emerge in time. An inquest is likely to take place which will have to hear details such how many shots were fired at John Carthy and where he was hit. However, Fine Gael's Jim Higgins has said he intends to bring the issue up in the Dáil when it resumes in May. He will be calling for the internal garda inquiry to be made public by the Minister for Justice. Speaking today, he said that because questions remain unanswered publicly, these unanswered questions will continue to fuel public disquiet surrounding the killing and this can only be detrimental to the interests of the Gardaí as well as to the interests of justice.
