Former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan and current Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan

Yesterday.

In The Sunday Times.

John Mooney reported on the protected disclosures made by Sgt Maurice McCabe and former head of the Garda Press Office Supt Dave Taylor to the Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald.

He reported that retired High Court judge Iarfhlaith O’Neill, who has reviewed the allegations and given a report on the same to Ms Fitzgerald, had been given “conflicting accounts from key witnesses” including the Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan.

Readers will recall how Supt Taylor has claimed that there was an orchestrated campaign, within the gardai, to destroy the reputation of Sgt McCabe.

Supt Taylor has claimed he was following orders from senior gardaí and that both the former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan and the current commissioner Ms O’Sullivan knew about the campaign.

Further to this…

Mr Mooney reported:

A central allegation examined by O’Neill is thought to have concerned a text Taylor says he sent to O’Sullivan informing her a journalist had interviewed a person making allegations about McCabe. Taylor claims O’Sullivan responded to his text with a one-word reply: “perfect”.

In a statement to O’Neill, O’Sullivan vehemently denied Taylor’s claims, and pointed out the large number of text messages she got on various matters. The commissioner acknowledged she often responded to text messages using the word “perfect” or “thanks”, and described these as “perfunctory” replies to the large number of messages she received while a deputy commissioner.

…The Sunday Times has learnt O’Neill also approached Callinan about an unsolicited approach he made to John McGuinness, as chairman of the PAC, in advance of McCabe’s appearance at a parliamentary committee.

Details of the meeting, which took place in a hotel car park in 2014, emerged after McGuinness claimed he had been given damaging information about McCabe by the former garda commissioner.

In a two-page letter to O’Neill, Callinan said he regarded media reports on what had transpired at the meeting as “hearsay” and asked that his constitutional rights be protected. The former commissioner also asked O’Neill for a guarantee his legal fees would be discharged.

New row over McCabe ‘smears’ (John Mooney, The Sunday Times)

Rollingnews