Gardaí engaged in ‘controlled delivery' of arms and ammo to supermarket shooter, committee hears
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris faces questions from TDs
Evan Fitzgerald, from Kiltegan in Co Wicklow, who died in a shooting incident at the Fairgreen Shopping Centre in Carlow. Photo: PA
Gardaí engaged in a 'controlled delivery' of arms and ammunition to Carlow shopping centre shooter Evan Fitzgerald, a Dáil committee has been told.
Fitzgerald (22) who died in the shooting incident at the Fairgreen centre, was arrested by Gardaí last year for possession of firearms and explosives.
TDs today heard a suggestion that undercover officers had met Mr Fitzgerald before the two weapons and a quantity of ammunition were delivered.
In other jurisdictions, "controlled delivery" can mean that weapons are supplied to suspects by undercover officers.
Fitzgerald had been out on bail when he staged his Carlow attack.
It is understood that a sum of €3,000 may have been involved in the acquisition of the guns and ammunition on the Dark Web.
Former Labour Party leader Alan Kelly asked outgoing Garda Commissioner Drew Harris about the lead-up to the Carlow shooting incident during his appearance before the Justice Committee.
Mr Kelly asked the provenance of the guns that the "deceased young man" bought off the Dark web.
He added: "Was this a controlled delivery of guns and ammunition?"
He also asked: "Did undercover Gardai engage face-to-face with this young man prior to this delivery of guns and ammunition?"
Commissioner Harris said: "I would say that controlled delivery is very sensitive police methodology."
He added: "We use it for both organised crime and for our terrorist defence."
Mr Kelly returned to the issue later, saying that Evan Fitzgerald was "engaged with by An Garda Síochána', and "was met by An Garda Síochána undercover, guns and ammunition were taken from headquarters, they were delivered to him, and he was arrested.
"An Garda Síochána agreed to his bail, and subsequently he killed himself. I have serious concern in relation to all of that."
Mr Harris did not comment on this additional statement.
The Commissioner said he was aware of Sunday newspaper allegations published last month, which he had then referred to Fiosú, the Office of the Police Ombudsman.
"They have since examined the investigation file that was submitted by the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau to the DPP, and they've responded that they have no further action that they wish to take in pursuance."
The decision of the Ombudsman came in recent days, on Friday 6 June last.
Evan Fitzgerald, from Kiltegan in Co Wicklow, who died in a shooting incident at the Fairgreen Shopping Centre in Carlow. Photo: PA
News in 90 Seconds - Tuesday June 10
Mr Kelly said: "I find that amazing. It's the quickest thing that's ever been turned around by them or their predecessors.
"There are investigations in relation to a whole range of things that have run on seven years, six years, five years.
"It's amazing that something can be turned around so fast." He asked to see what had been referred to them.
Commissioner Harris offered to forward to the committee a description of what was asked for and what was supplied.
Mr Kelly asked again whether the Commissioner was in a position to say whether Gardaí "engaged with this individual [Fitzgerald] prior to this controlled delivery, that was organised by An Garda Síochana in relation to these guns and ammunition."
He also asked again about where the guns had actually come from, appearing to question whether there had been any actual importation.
The Commissioner said: "Well, again, I'm not going to speak to the provenance of the firearms because that touches upon sensitive methodology.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Evan Fitzgerald case: How ‘controlled deliveries' are used in Garda sting operations
The 'controlled delivery' of illicit items – which can include drugs and guns – is used frequently by gardaí, especially when trying to catch people attempting to import drugs into the Republic. While it is rarely spoken of, mainly because gardaí want to keep their trade craft secret, it was aired very publicly this week at an Oireachtas justice committee. Garda Commissioner Drew Harris confirmed Evan Fitzgerald, the armed 22-year-old who took his own life in a Carlow shopping centre on the June bank holiday weekend, had been charged with gun crimes after a 'controlled delivery' of firearms last year. On that occasion, gardaí received a tip-off from international policing agency Interpol that unidentified parties in Ireland were active on the darknet trying to buy guns. Gardaí acted on that intelligence, going on to the darknet and offering guns to the suspects. A face-to-face meeting was later arranged, with the guns and money exchanged. Mr Fitzgerald, who did not realise he was dealing with undercover gardaí running a sting operation , was arrested. The guns were two firearms that were in Garda stores and had been decommissioned. READ MORE Mr Fitzgerald was charged with four offences: possession of a machine gun and pistol and two different ammunition types. A search of an address linked to him yielded a variety of ammunition and powers to make explosive devices, resulting in nine other charges. [ Carlow gunman disclosure set to lead to scrutiny of An Garda Síochána Opens in new window ] The case was unusual in that the source of the guns – the person who offered them for sale on the darknet – was actually an undercover detective. Both techniques – controlled deliveries and police officers posing as criminals – are used by international law enforcement. They are also included in the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime. The UN defines organised crime as three or more people working together to commit at least one serious crime punishable by at least four years in jail and from which they derive financial or material gain. A controlled delivery occurs when illegal items are detected – usually in the postal system or in freight – on their way to the person trying to procure them. The authorities take control of the delivery in order to catch the person the items are destined for. In Ireland, this includes undercover gardaí dressing as postal workers, or couriers, to make a delivery and then arrest a suspect. [ Undercover gardaí supplied Carlow gunman with firearms and ammunition, Oireachtas hears Opens in new window ] The UN also deals specifically with policing techniques in which undercover officers effectively insert themselves into a crime in the planning. It says the crime should be in the planning before the police get involved. If a police officer 'originated the idea of the crime and induced the accused to engage in it' this would be used as grounds for defence in some jurisdictions'. A range of Garda sting operations have been reported in Ireland, including gardaí posing as drug users and even as criminals selling drugs or guns. In 2017, Ahmed Ayadi, then aged 25 years and with an address in the Lawn, Boden Park, Rathfarnham, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to possessing a 9mm calibre Glock semi-automatic pistol in suspicious circumstances. Gardaí learned he was involved in the drug trade and that he wanted to buy a gun. Undercover gardaí posed as criminals selling guns. He chose a Glock, paying €450. As he left the transaction location, his car was stopped and he was arrested and charged. He was jailed for five years and also admitted possessing drugs. [ 'The country is going to the dogs': How agitators exploited the Carlow shooting Opens in new window ] In 2013, Operation Trident saw undercover gardaí infiltrate the drug gang run by Dubliner Freddie Thompson, who became a significant figure in the Kinahan cartel's Irish operation, running it for a time. The undercover gardaí were given new identities and even moved into properties in the Crumlin area, buying and selling drugs and being arrested to help them infiltrate the gang – all with close co-operation between the Garda and the Director of Public Prosecutions. However, after some details of the operation appeared in the media, the operation was cancelled and five undercover gardaí were withdrawn, though 29 suspects were arrested on the basis of their work. In 2013 a CIÉ bus driver – Sunny Idah, then aged 36 – was jailed for 13 years. He was trying to recruit people to smuggle cocaine from Brazil to Ireland by swallowing the drugs. Two undercover gardaí posed as would-be couriers and when they recorded Idah – with addresses at Lipton Court, Dublin – offering them €5,000 to take on the task, he was charged.
Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
‘Appalling behaviour' by Louth man who soiled himself
Robert Quinn (42), Rockfield, Stoney Lane, Ardee, pleaded guilty to damaging the vehicle, using or engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour or words, failing to provide a garda with his name and address and resisting a peace officer in the execution of his duty. Evidence was presented that at 1am on May 11 last Gardaí were alerted to two groups of men fighting at Bridge Street, Ardee. The defendant, who was among them, had earlier been given a direction to leave the area. He was 'highly intoxicated' and was arrested. It was the belief of Gardaí that he deliberately soiled himself in the patrol car. He was also spitting and kicking. It cost €200 to clean the vehicle which represented the damage charge. Barrister Eoghan Fagan said that Mr Quinn was due to begin work as a cleaner. He held three Degrees including for Cultural Studies. A father of one he was engaging with Turas Counselling Service. He wanted to pay compensation. There were no previous convictions. 'The description of the behaviour that night is appalling. The behaviour is appalling,' Judge Gráinne Malone remarked. The court gave Mr Quinn until Ardee Court on September 12 to pay €500 compensation to the Gardaí and €500 to Dundalk Women's Aid to get the benefit of the Probation Act.
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
‘Dublin 8 Says No': Mother removes son aged 8 from school due to anti-immigration protests
A mother has decided to temporarily take her son out of school in Dublin 8 following nearby anti- immigration protests over recent weeks and a 'knife incident'. Andreea-Claudia Calin took her son (8) out of Canal Way Educate Together School, located on Basin Lane, where protesters have gathered at drop-off and collection times. An encampment has been set up close to the school gates with Tricolours and graffiti stating: 'Dublin 8 Says No'. An International Protection Accommodation Service centre has been in operation at Basin View since 2022. Plans to refurbish another building to expand the centre were under consideration by the Department of Justice but were dropped in recent weeks. Ms Calin, who is originally from Romania and grew up in Greece, has been living in Ireland since 2018 with her partner and two children. READ MORE The anti-immigration encampment near the Canal Way Educate Together school in Dublin 8. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien She was informed by the school of a 'knife incident' in the area last month. It is understood that a man, who is a foreign national, had been dropping his child off at a separate primary school nearby when there was an altercation with a teenage boy who wielded a knife and, allegedly, assaulted him. Gardaí confirmed they attended the scene of 'an alleged assault and public order incident' on May 28th at 8.45am. 'A male youth was arrested concerning the incident,' said a Garda spokesman. 'He has since been released and a file will now be prepared for the Garda youth diversion programme.' Ms Calin said hearing about the knife incident 'felt like American news'. 'It's not something that you hear happening in a school in Dublin,' she said. 'I understand the free right to protest, but at the same time, there are some guidelines. It can't be threatening or intimidating. In my opinion, it's unlawful. Why have they not been removed from in front of the school? ... I want him to go to school, but it's not safe. Something needs to be done.' Ms Calin said she made the decision on Monday not to send her son to school and informed his teacher and principal. She said she is homeschooling him. 'We have Irish friends, we live in a neighbourhood with Irish neighbours that we get along with. I got Irish citizenship ... I absolutely love it here. I never saw it as an unsafe place to live until recently,' she added. 'I don't understand why these kids have to pay for whatever it is between the people who are protesting and the Government. Why are they mixed up in this and why is no one doing something to protect them?' The school's board of management said: 'We are always saddened when a child temporarily withdraws, particularly when the circumstances involve challenges that fall beyond the school's capacity to fully address or control.' The board said it was 'monitoring' the protest's impact on its school community and 'direct requests' to protesters for a different approach have so far been unsuccessful. 'We've notified the situation to the departments of education and justice, An Garda Síochána, INTO [Irish National Teachers' Organisation], Fórsa ... seeking a respectful, inclusive resolution,' it added.
