Proceedings at the Abbeylara Inquiry were adjourned this afternoon after the Chairman, Mr Justice Robert Barr, accused legal representatives for the Garda Emergency Response Unit of abusing him in their final submissions.
The Chairman told Pat O'Connell, counsel for the ERU, to sit down if he was going to continue to be abusive in his submission.
'You are not entitled to make the sort of abusive observation you are doing,' the Chairman said.
Mr O'Connell said he wanted to make a submission on the way Garda witnesses had been treated in the Tribunal but the Chairman said he would not allow him to do it if it contained the 'same abuse' he had already received.
Mr O'Connell said he wanted to make the submission but the Chairman told him to sit down, adding that he would read the submission later.
'It won't be wasted,' Mr Justice Barr said, 'but you won't get a platform for abuse from me.'
Disappointed
A solicitor for the ERU said they are disappointed that they were not allowed to complete their final submissions at the Tribunal this afternoon.
Joseph Murphy was speaking moments after the Tribunal was adjourned.
'We are disappointed because what is contained in the last portion of the final submissions is significant material for the consideration of the Tribunal,' Mr Murphy said.
