Garda superintendent Kevin Lennon, who was sacked from the force and severely criticised by the Morris tribunal, met with McBrearty to give him information that could be used at the tribunal to discredit the force.

The meetings took place between McBrearty and Lennon during the Morris tribunal's module which probed the garda investigation into the death of Richie Barron in 1996.

It is understood a number of these meetings took place in the Herbert Park Hotel in Ballsbridge, Dublin, where McBrearty used to stay while attending the Morris tribunal in Clonskeagh.

McBrearty jnr told the Sunday Tribune: "Lennon did help us out during the Barron module in 2004, but we believe he had a hidden agenda. He was not helping us for the sake of it. I believe that the main reason he gave us information was that he was trying to discredit the tribunal and the Carthy investigation.

"It wasn't done to help us, it was done to help himself. He has now made accusations about Raphoe and our premises this week at the tribunal. He should make those in the public domain and not hide behind the fact that he can say anything in the tribunal."

Former superintendent Lennon confirmed to the Sunday Tribune this weekend that he had been in contact with McBrearty. "He rang me on several occasions and we spoke on the phone on several occasions. I have nothing against the McBreartys and I was happy to help them. I am the person who said that he was an innocent man and I wrote that to the DPP in March 1998, " he claimed.

"I helped to clear the names of Frank McBrearty jnr and Mark McConnell of being involved in the death of Richie Barron. I met him at the Morris tribunal and asked serious questions on his behalf. I absolutely helped Frank McBrearty as I was happy to help him clear his name. He didn't realise that I was the person that was trying to clear his name, but it was me."

In one of the most shocking aspects of the Donegal garda scandal, the 1996 death of cattle dealer Richie Barron was re-designated by gardai in February 2002 from a murder investigation to a hit-andrun . . . McBrearty and McConnell were not told of this re-designation and went on believing they were murder suspects for two years.

The Sunday Tribune can reveal that the series of meetings and telephone conversations between McBrearty and Lennon assisted the Donegal families in finding out about the re-designation.

McBrearty and McConnell found out in 2004 in a letter from garda commissioner Noel Conroy that Barron's death had been redesignated on 13 February 2002 . . . the month before the Morris tribunal was set up.

Lennon told the Sunday Tribune, "I asked questions about the redesignation of the death of Richie Barron and tried to help Frank McBrearty jnr and Mark McConnell clear their names."

The government took the decision to dismiss Lennon from the force after a cabinet meeting on 6 October 2004. The Morris tribunal found that Lennon, along with detective garda Noel McMahon, had orchestrated hoax explosives finds in the years leading up to the 1994 IRA ceasefires to further their careers.