Smithwick witness 'a fantasist'

A key witness who told the Smithwick Tribunal that former Det Sgt Owen Corrigan of Dundalk Garda station was an IRA mole, was described as a "pathological liar" and "a fantasist" at the tribunal this afternoon.

Fevin Fulton also known as Peter Keeley has previously told the tribunal it was an "open secret" that the IRA had a "friend" in the Garda, whom he named as Mr Corrigan. Mr Fulton also recounted a series of occasions on which he said Mr Corrigan had assisted the IRA - including the murder of two RUC officers in 1989.

However recalling the evidence today Jim O'Callaghan SC for Mr Corrigan said Mr Fulton was inaccurate in a range of details and issues which when examined, showed he was telling lies.

Mr O'Callaghan said Mr Fulton's book "Unsung Hero" had maintained he was in Ireland when the IRA murdered Cooley farmer Tom Oliver. But Mr O'Callaghan reminded Mr Fulton that he had given evidence to the tribunal claiming that he was working in Disneyland in Paris, when Mr Oliver was murdered.

He said the contradiction was evidence of the inconsistency of Mr Fulton testimony. He also said Mr Fulton's evidence that Mr Corrigan had provided information to the IRA which led to Mr Oliver's murder, was incorrect, as Mr Corrigan had left the Garda by the time Mr Oliver was killed.

Mr O'Callaghan also took Mr Fulton through another of the claims that Mr Corrigan had destroyed evidence left by one of the Warrenpoint bombers, removing material such as a motorbike and a firing mechanism from a firing point in the Republic. Mr O'Callaghan said the record would show that Mr Corrigan was not involved in the Garda investigation into the incident.

Mr O'Callaghan also said a claim that Mr Corrigan had destroyed evidence relating to a bomb find in Omeath, Co Louth was incorrect. He said Mr Corrigan was again not involved in this investigation, and could not have interfered with the evidence.

Mr O'Callaghan also said a claim that Mr Corrigan had tipped off the IRA that two RUC officers were in Dundalk Garda station was incorrect. Mr O'Callaghan said the claim was that Mr Corrigan had telephoned the IRA after two RUC officers arrived in Dundalk station for a meeting, at about 2.10p.m. on March 20, 1989. The two officers were murdered minutes after leaving the meeting at about 3.25p.m.

However Mr Fulton agreed with Mr O'Callaghan this afternoon that the timeline envisaged would not have allowed the IRA to carry out the murders. He said the IRA would have to have been tipped off earlier in the day.

Mr O'Callaghan said Mr Fulton was advancing his own publicity-seeking agenda and was "a pathological liar" and "a fantasist".

Mr O'Callaghan's cross examination is continuing.