Charles J Haughey was “very disturbed” as Taoiseach to hear reports that a British marine put a gun to the neck of a Dublin sailor in Carlingford Lough in 1991.
As The Journal reports, State papers record it was one of several instances where leisure craft were approached by British patrols in the 1990s.
Correspondence outlines the incident with Henry Barnwell, who had a knighthood, from Glenageary, and his yacht ‘the Lady Jane’ on June 1st,1991.
This includes a Garda file on the incident in which it recounts the statement from Barnwell, his wife, and Swiss friend on board with them.
It noted they were “visibly shaken”, after Barnwell was approached by two RIBs on the Greenore side of the lough and two soldiers asked permission to board.
After Barnwell refused and demanded identification from them, the soldiers boarded the yacht.
“He continued to refuse them permission and one of them said they were arresting him and taking him to Northern Ireland,” the Garda statement said.
“In attempting to turn Barnwell’s yacht around, one of the soldiers put a gun to Barnwell’s neck and grabbed the ‘tiller’ and strained the tiller socket,” the report said.
The statement said Barnwell heard someone say over the soldiers’ radios “they have you in the Republic”, after which they left the yacht.
The statement noted that two senior gardai inspected the damage done to the yacht and said the tiller socket was “definitely strained”.
Damage also included the plug for the automatic pilot, which had been “ripped from its socket” and “boot marks were visible on deck”.
A Department of Foreign Affairs official recorded that Barnwell later said that when he resisted the soldiers attempting to wrestle the tiller from him, one of them “put a gun to his neck and clocked off the safety catch”.
The official urged that the issue be raised “in strong terms” with British authorities and requested a full report on the incident.
The yacht was “so close to the Greenore side of the shore” and was proceeding to an Irish port, the official noted.
“The aggressive manner in which the boarding was carried out also gives rise to serious concern,” a civil servant said.
“The holding of a gun to Mr Barnwell’s neck was a reckless action that could have had the most serious consequences.”
Barnwell wrote to Haughey on June 5th, about the incident, stating that he, his wife and friend “continued to shake with fear and trepidation for the remainder of the day”.
“During the rest of the weekend, we were regaled with stories of persistent harassment of Carlingford yachts by these men,” he said.
“I have had several conversations with the British, whom I fear will concoct some denial to pervert the course of justice, which seems to have become as much a tradition of British culture as their reputation for piracy,” he said.
