The Morris Tribunal was a public inquiry to address allegations of the 1990s and early 2000s against the Garda Síochána, the national police force of Ireland. Subjects explored included suggestions of corrupt and dishonest policing in County Donegal but its recommendations and conclusions have more widespread consequences and importance.
The Morris Tribunal was created by a resolution of the Oireachtas on 28 March 2002 and by Instrument entitled Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act, 1921 (Establishment of Tribunal) Instrument, 2002 made by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform on 24 April 2002.
Its formal title was The Tribunal of Inquiry into complaints concerning some Gardaí of the Donegal Division. It is known as the Morris Tribunal after its chairman and sole member, Justice Frederick Morris, a former president of the Irish High Court and a judge of the Special Criminal Court.
The tribunal concluded its public hearings in December 2007. Its final report was issued in October 2008.
Background
The Morris Tribunal takes place against probably the most over-reaching reform of the Gardaí in its history, the Garda Síochána Act 2005, which established the Garda Ombudsman Commission and other strategic initiatives. So far, it has resulted in the resignations of several senior officers in the force, including one Chief Superintendent and three Superintendents, after they were criticised for negligence, as well as the firing of another Superintendent found to be corrupt. Several other present and former officers of various ranks have been criticised for negligence, found to have lied, or been found to have acted corruptly.
Modules
Evidence in all modules in the tribunal's terms of reference were heard. All reports were published by October 2008.
The first substantive report was published in 2004; the second in 2005 and reports three, four and five were published in August 2006.
The remaining reports covered an investigation into the interrogation of 12 suspects in Garda custody detained in connection with the death of Richard Barron; allegations that interview rooms in Garda stations were bugged; anonymous allegations of Garda corruption at the highest level; allegations of a campaign of Garda harassment directed against the extended McBrearty family, their employees and others in Co Donegal; and the effectiveness of the Garda Complaints Board in dealing with complaints from the extended family and others.
Report 1 Faked Explosives Discovery
The first report, in June 2004, concerned allegations that two Donegal based detectives, Superintendent Kevin Lennon and Detective Garda Noel McMahon, faked a series of explosives finds in the border county in 1993 and 1994.
Findings of culpability in respect of individual members of the Garda Síochána were made. The extent of culpability ranged from instances of negligence to, in the cases of Superintendent Lennon and Detective Garda McMahon, of corruptly orchestrating the planting of ammunition and hoax explosives.
Chief Supt Denis Fitzpatrick, who was cited as being 'gravely at fault' in not investigating the activities Lennon and McMahon relating to implicating a person as IRA informer, took early retirement from the Garda in July 2004. Lennon, who was suspended on full pay in August 2002 on foot of the Frank Shortt* affair and was fired from the Garda in October 2004. McMahon resigned from the force before the Garda Commissioner could dismiss him from the force. (* Frank Shortt, a Donegal publican, was adjudged to have been wrongly convicted by "perjured Garda evidence" following "a conspiracy to concoct false evidence" by McMahon and Lennon.)
The report also makes general recommendations arising from its findings, including the need for a more pro-active role for Garda Headquarters in the management of Garda Divisions, the need for improved recording and reporting of incidents, the immediate restoration of the discontinued practice of members of Inspector rank and above keeping daily official journals, the need for an urgent review of policy in relation to the handling of informants, and the need for a specific obligation on members of the Garda Síochána to account truthfully for any actions taken in the course of duty, with failure to account constituting a serious breach of discipline warranting dismissal. The report also, while it makes no specific recommendation on the matter, questions the adequacy of the Garda promotion system in identifying and advancing persons with the necessary aptitude and skills, and calls for the system to be looked at (and in fact significant changes are already underway as part of the Garda reform process).