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Claims of campaign to "annihilate a whistleblower" puts focus on Garda Commissioner

By: 
Rónán Duffy - TheJournal.ie

GARDA COMMISSIONER NÓIRÍN O’Sullivan is coming under increased pressure following allegations that a garda whistleblower was subjected to a campaign to “annihilate” and “discredit” them by senior gardaí.

The claims relate to a protected disclosure that has been submitted and has been subsequently seen by Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald.

It is alleged that Garda management orchestrated a campaign to undermine the character of the whistleblower.

Speaking this morning on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland programme, Independents 4 Change TD Clare Daly said that senior gardaí are not acting on their commitments.

“There is a huge gulf between the public statements from the Commissioner offering support to whistleblowers and what’s happening behind the scenes,” Daly said.

In essence what’s been said is that there is a deliberate an organised campaign to, in essence, annihilate a whistleblower … Inaccurate information was given out about him in the most horrific way.

Speaking in the Dáil yesterday. Taoiseach Enda Kenny said that the allegations have been referred to the Independent Policing Authority.

In a statement to the Irish Examiner, the Garda Commissioner said that “any protective disclosures made within An Garda Síochána are welcomed.”

The Commissioner added that she has “actively asked employees to bring forward issues and concerns.”

Daly, however, does not accept this statement and says that O’Sullivan’s position is “untenable”.

“I know for a fact that people who have come forward on the watch of Commissioner O’Sullivan with protected disclosures have had no contact at all from her in relation to their claims,” she said.

Minister questioned 

wallace Mick Wallace Source: Screengrab/Oireachtas

The issue was raised by Daly’s fellow Independents 4 Change TD Mick Wallace in the Oireachtas justice committee this morning, who insisted the fresh claims showed it had been a mistake to appoint O’Sullivan to the top job in the gardaí.

The Wexford TD told Minister Fitzgerald that the top hierarchy of An Garda Síochána was “dysfunctional” and said that fact may have been brought home to her by the document pertaining to protected disclosures that “landed on her desk” on Monday morning.

“I’m sure you agree it’s pretty frightening,” Wallace said.

He said another inquiry wasn’t necessary and insisted that new leadership was needed in the force. Wallace told Fitzgerald:

I think you have enough evidence now that it was a mistake to give Nóirín O’Sullivan Callinan’s job [as Garda Commissioner]. We’re paying a price for it and the longer the problem is not addressed I think the worse it will get.

Protected disclosures 

Responding to Wallace’s comments, the Justice Minister said she was committed to the five year reform plan for An Garda Síochána, which is focused on modernisation and renewal of the force.

In relation to the protected disclosures, she said she was limited in what she could say as she was bound by the provisions of the Protected Disclosures Act 2014.

minister Minister for Justice France Fitzgerald

She had to protect the identity of anyone who made a submission via the Act, Fitzgerald said.

Whatever is out there in the public arena is out there – but I have a duty as Minister for Justice, and under the Protected Disclosures Act, it’s very clear [about] the legal obligations that I have, it’s very clear about the legal obligations of the person to whom a protected disclosure is made.

She said she was in a position to confirm to the committee that she had received correspondence earlier this week, under the Act,  from members of the gardaí.

“I cannot for obvious reasons go into the detail. But I can assure the committee that I am very carefully, very carefully assessing and considering what is the appropriate response to those disclosures and how they can best be dealt with,” she said.

She would consider in great detail how to respond, Fitzgerald added, and would do so in a way that ”protects whistleblowers and is fair and is seen to deliver justice to all”.

TheJournal.ie has asked An Garda Síochána for a response to Clare Daly’s comments this morning.

- With reporting from Daragh Brophy 

Posted Date: 
5 October 2016