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osullivan-1

Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan before the justice committee in March

Today.

At 2.30pm.

Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan will appear before the Public Accounts Committee to discuss the recent audit of the Garda College in Templemore which showed serious financial irregularities. It examined financial transactions between 2009 and 2015.

Readers will recall how Ms O’Sullivan described the irregularities as “legacy issues” in an interview with Seán O’Rourke shortly after the story first broke in The Sunday Times.

Ahead of the meeting, the committee’s chairman Seán Fleming, of Fianna Fáil, said:

“The findings of an internal audit carried out by An Garda Síochána have highlighted serious issues in relation to financial controls and mismanagement of funds at the Garda College in Templemore.”

“The audit of the Garda College has raised a number of concerns in relation to compliance with standard accounting practice and corporate governance. It is important that an effective system of internal financial control is maintained and operated by An Garda Síochána in all areas of it operations.”

“[Today] we will meet with Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan to discuss the report in more detail as it relates to the appropriation accounts. The committee will be keen to ascertain how budgetary control is exercised within An Garda Síochána and what changes have been implemented to address the serious issues which have arisen in relation to the college.”

Members of the Public Accounts Committee are: Alan Farrell, FG; Alan Kelly, Labour; Bobby Aylward, FF; Catherine Connolly, Independent; Catherine Murphy, Social Democrats; David Cullinane, SF; Josepha Madigan, FG; Marc MacSharry, FF; Mary Lou McDonald, SF; Noel Rock, FG; Peter Burke, FG; Sean Fleming, FF; Shane Cassells, FF.

G’wan the Catherines.

Watch live from 2.30pm here

Previously: ‘I Knew Full Well It Hadn’t Been Discussed At PAC Because I’m A Member Of PAC’

edsheerhan



Warning: contains Riverdancing.

Ted writes:

Ed Sheeran’s Galway Girl video [featuring Saoirse Ronan] was released this morning. A few Galway scenes missing like a pair of language students getting tackled and their bikes stolen. But overall a nice video…

FIGHT!

Michaeltee

‘sup?

For the day that’s in it.

Michael Tea Higgins as Obi Wan Kenobi

Michael Tea Higgins (Facebook)

Thanks David O’Gorman

Meanwhile…

scoreboard

Ah here.

Bosco beats Michael Tea in a live Tea Cosy auction on TV3’s Ireland Am this morning, where €1070 was raised for the Alzheimer’s Society to celebrate TeaDay 2017.

In fairness.

Via Ireland AM

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regret will come – bubblegum guitar-pop

What you may need to know…

01. Regret Will Come is the bedroom-pop project of confirmed sad-boy Fintan Gallagher. “Discerning pop for the depressed millennial”, or so runs his tagline.

02. Lo-fi bubblegum pop is the order of the day here, in the vein that Ireland seems to produce at a prodigious rate in the past decade, albeit with a more pop-culture-tinged aesthetic.

03. Streaming above is the video for single Holy Cross Made of Flesh, directed by the team Sunburnt Soul Films and featuring a cameo from Ronald Reagan. It’s taken from Gallagher’s debut full-length, I Hope You Thrive.

04. Catch Gallagher, alongside Cat Palace and Oh, Boland at Mistake, a brand-new pop night happening at The Hub in Phibsborough, tomorrow night.

Thoughts: Warm, fuzzy guitar pop, sans the warm and fuzzies. Anxiety, catharsis, and bittersweetness abide.

Regret Will Come

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This Sunday.

From the Garden of Remembrance, Dublin 1 at 2pm.

Via Uplift:

A new National Maternity Hospital is urgently needed but cannot be allowed to be owned by the Sisters of Charity. Parents for Choice, Uplift, and National Women’s Council of Ireland and Justice for Magdalens are organising a national people powered march to send a message to Health Minister Simon Harris that he must urgently deal with this crisis and guarantee that the hospital will not be owned by a religious order.

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Errcatz writes:

Galway Street Club, one of the best busking bands in Galway, are playing Whelan’s tonight (8pm) and definitely worth a look. The video above is from their last gig, and it was bleedin’ savage.

Whelan’s

Galway Street Club

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This afternoon.

During Leaders’ Questions which were being received by Fine Gael’s Richard Bruton.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin raised the case of Shane O’Farrell who was killed in a hit-and-run in Carrickmacross in Co. Monaghan by Zigimantus Gridziuska, from Lithuania, on August 2, 2011.

Mr Martin said:

“It’s clear the family were misled by the gardaí about facts of their son’s death. The courts were misled by both gardaí and others. The courts were not informed of relevant information when judges asked questions, pertaining to the accused. Fundamentally, minister, I put it to you that offences concerning violent deaths should not go unpunished.”

“I think we owe it, collectively, and I know others in the house have met with Lucia O’Farrell and the O’Farrell family. We owe it to make sure that justice is done. And the most effective way, at this stage, in our view, is that an inquiry should be established. To inquire into all aspects of this case. So that we can learn lessons and justice can be delivered for the O’Farrell family. And that the dysfunctionality within our justice system, that are highlighted by the case, can be put to right. I would ask you, minister, if the Government has given consideration to this. I know the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach has indeed met with the O’Farrell family. But I think it’s time for action now.”

During his response, Mr Bruton said:

“The Government, to my knowledge, it has not come to Cabinet, to consider this specific circumstances of this case. As I understand it, under legislation, it would be in the first instance for the Minister for Justice to propose issues in relation to the suggestion you’re making of a public inquiry. I cannot, if you like, shed light on whether there is a case or not for such a public inquiry because I don’t have access to sufficient facts and detail. It is, perhaps, an issue that can be raised with the Minister for Justice but I will certainly convey the concern of the deputy to the minister.“

Previously: ‘Delay, Deny, Lie Than Cover Up’

Shane O’Farrell on Broadsheet