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Probe into death of Real IRA raider to begin hearings

Ronan Mac Lochlainn (28) was shot dead by the Garda's Emergency Response Unit in 1998  
Ronan Mac Lochlainn (28) was shot dead by the Garda's Emergency Response Unit in 1998   Ronan Mac Lochlainn (28) was shot dead by the Garda's Emergency Response Unit in 1998  

A DUBLIN inquiry into the 1998 fatal shooting of Real IRA man Ronan Mac Lochlainn by armed gardaí is set to hear from around 85 witnesses.

The probe, which is being conducted by senior counsel Mary Rose Gearty, a founding member of the Irish Criminal Bar Association, will begin hearing from witnesses on Tuesday.

Hearings are expected to continue until the end of October with approximately 85 witnesses being called to give evidence, including serving and retired gardaí as well as civilian and expert witnesses.

Mr Mac Lochlainn (28), from Dublin, was shot dead by members of the Garda’s Emergency Response Unit during a botched attempt by a six-man gang to hold up a Securicor van near Ashford in Co Wicklow on May 1, 1998. The van was transporting around IR£300,000 in cash from Wicklow to Dublin.

The raiders struck on the day that 5,000 rank-and-file gardaí were conducting a so-called ‘blue flu’ protest, designed to thwart a ban on strike action by members of An Garda Síochána by calling in sick en masse.

An inquest into Mr Mac Lochlainn’s death was held in 2009 and returned a verdict of guilty by misadventure.

In 2010 the dead man’s partner, Gráinne Nic Gibb, took a case against the Republic under the European Convention on Human Rights alleging a failure on the part of the State to carry out an effective investigation into the shooting.

The Irish government last year agreed to set up a commission of investigation, which is expected to take around six months to complete its work and cost 350,000 euro.