Former prison guard challenges Defence Forces complaints tribunal

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Former Portlaoise prison guard Sean O'Brien has challenged a Defence Forces complaints tribunal’s refusal to let him make representations. He is asking the High Court to quash its April 2025 decision.

O'Brien, 65, of Ballycumber, Co Offaly, claims he was working under Defence Forces control when he helped apprehend prisoner Patrick McVeigh during an escape attempt on May 18, 1988. He alleges that shots fired at him and the prisoner with “lethal intent” narrowly missed them both.

O'Brien says his dismissal in May 1989 was penalisation for reporting that incident and other alleged abuse. Eileen Barrington SC, for the tribunal, said his employment was terminated because of absenteeism that began before the 1988 incident.

The tribunal’s terms of reference were limited to people employed by the Department of Defence or the Defence Forces. At the High Court hearing on January 14, 2026, O'Brien’s counsel, Diarmuid Rossa Phelan SC, argued that his official employment by the Department of Justice should not prevent him from making representations. Barrington said it was accepted that O'Brien had never been employed by the Department of Defence and that the tribunal had fully considered his submissions.

Ms Justice Miriam O'Regan reserved judgment. The Courts Service lists a judgment by O'Regan J. as delivered on January 30, 2026.