By Mairead Carey

The two-year inquiry into the killing of Longford man John Carty by members of the Gardai has finally come to a close. 

Counsel for the Carthy family made final submissions to the inquiry on Tuesday, and the chairman, Justice Robert Barr, is expected to give his report on the case next June. 

Carthy, who was suffering from depression, was shot dead after a siege at his home in Abbeylara in April 2000. 

On Tuesday his sister Marie said she was confident that the tribunal chairman would ensure the truth would now come out about John’s death. It is obvious things went wrong during the Garda operation, she said. 

However, she insisted that the family is now happy that all questions surrounding the incident have been asked of the Gardai.

Carthy was shot four times as he walked out of his house, a shotgun in his hand, at the end of a two-day siege. 

Lawyers for his family told the tribunal that there was no lawfully established justification for the fourth shot fired at him. 

Senior counsel Patrick Gageby said there was independent evidence before the tribunal that Carthy was crouching or falling when he was struck for the fourth time by the bullet which killed him. 

He also criticized the Gardai for their failure to get a solicitor for Carthy when he requested it and accused the Garda negotiator, Michael Jackson, of being wholly inflexible throughout the negotiations. 

Counsel for the Garda Emergency Response Unit made closing submissions to the inquiry on Monday, but their case ended in acrimony when the tribunal chairman accused their legal representatives of abusing him in their final submissions.

The chairman has had a difficult relationship with counsel for the Gardai. Last July he accused members of the force of being incapable of admitting to any faults in their work.