Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

Sat 05 May 2004Inquiry into website photos of special branch officersGardaí have launched an investigation into the publication of photographs on a US website of members of the Special Detective Unit, or special branch. A total of 14 photographs have been published, apparently showing the officers at work outside courthouses and other locations.In New York the owner of the website denied there was anything sinister in the publication of the photographs, saying his service was simply dedicated to exposing all elements of international state secrecy.