Tag Archives: gardai

 

OK, panic.

Meanwhile…

 

monaghan[Monaghan Garda Station]

Further to the Garda bugging hooha.

The latest list of Garda stations where calls were recorded, comprising the 2,500 tapes stored at Garda HQ in Phoenix Park, Dublin..

Anglesea St, Cork City
Ballymun, Dublin
Blanchardstown, Dublin
Bray, Co Wicklow
Crumlin, Dublin
Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin
Drogheda, Co Louth
Bandon, Co Cork
Castlebar, Co Mayo
Ennis, Co Clare
Fermoy, Co Cork
Henry St, Limerick
Letterkenny, Co Donegal
Mill St, Galway
Monaghan
Mullingar, Co Westmeath
Nass, Co Kildare
Pearse Street, Dublin
Portlaoise, Co Laois
Roscommon,
Sligo
Store Street, Dublin
Thurles, Co Tipperary
Tralee, Co Kerry
Waterford
Wexford

Right so.

Garda tender specified ability to record calls (irish Times)

 

Criminalcourt

Lawyers for two men accused of IRA membership successfully applied to the Special Criminal Court today to have their trial adjourned “in light of recent events”. Barristers for the two men told the court that their clients had telephone calls with their solicitors while in garda custody and before they were subsequently interviewed by the gardaí.

Trial adjourned over revelations of phone recordings at garda stations (RTE)

Garda

Government Statement on “Matters Relating to An Garda Síochána” issued today.

“At its meeting today, the Government considered a new and very serious issue relating to An Garda Síochána.

The implications of this matter are potentially of such gravity that the Government has decided to set up a statutory Commission of Investigation into this matter of significant public concern. It will be chaired by a senior serving or retired member of the Judiciary.

In the context of ongoing legal proceedings in a particular case, the Government has learned that a system was in place in a large number of Garda stations whereby incoming and outgoing telephone calls were taped and recorded. The Government was informed of this new information at its meeting today.

As the matter is before the Courts, it is not appropriate to make any further comment on the specific case.

From the information available, the practice of making recordings was in place for many years and was discontinued in November of 2013. It is not yet clear why this practice was in operation.

The Government is extremely concerned about this information.

The Government has asked for a full, detailed report on all aspects of this matter from An Garda Síochána and the Department of Justice and Equality, so that an informed decision can be made on the legal and other consequences, with the assistance of the Attorney General.

The terms of reference for the Commission of Investigation will be decided shortly, once a full report on the circumstances has been made available to the Government.

…It also reiterated its commitment to the reform of Garda oversight and accountability. This will include the establishment of an independent Garda authority, which is appropriate to Ireland’s needs and which will maintain appropriate democratic accountability to the Oireachtas.

The Government will bring forward the full detail of its comprehensive reform proposals in the coming months.

This will be done following the completion of the current inquiries by Judge Cooke and Mr Guerin, the forthcoming hearings by the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality and the Review of the Garda Síochána which is currently underway under the Haddington Road Agreement.

Via MerrionStreet.ie

Any excuse:

 McCabe
[Garda whistleblower Sgt Maurice McCabe]

Philip Ryan, of the Irish Independent, reports this morning that the former CEO of the Road Safety Authority Noel Brett, and AA Roadwatch director of consumer affairs, Conor Faughnan were questioned by gardaí in relation to their dealings with Garda whistleblower Sgt Maurice McCabe last summer, after it emerged that they had been in contact with Sgt McCabe.

The investigation was launched after the former head of the Garda Traffic Corps, Eddie Rock – who is also a member of the RSA board – claimed his data protection rights had been breached.

It’s understood Sgt McCabe contacted Mr Faughnan to raise his concerns about the penalty points system and Mr Faughan put Sgt McCabe in contact with Mr Brett. Mr Brett sent on a dossier of Sgt McCabe’s complaints to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) and the Comptroller and Auditor General, and he also contacted the Department of Transport.

Mr Ryan reports:

“The two well-known public figures were not questioned as suspects but rather to establish if they had been given confidential private information from the whistleblower.
…
“The Irish Independent understands that gardai arranged to meet Mr Faughnan in his office, where he made a full statement on his involvement with Sgt McCabe. Gardai asked Mr Faughnan if private data had been “disseminated illegally” by a member of the force. He told gardai he met Sgt McCabe but insisted that he was not given or shown any personal information which could be perceived to be a breach of data-protection rules, according to a source. It is understood that Sgt McCabe’s name was not mentioned during the interview because his identity was unknown at the time.”

Road safety pair quizzed by gardai over McCabe meetings (Philip Ryan, Irish Independent)

Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland

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Making the streets less high.

Superintendent Dave Taylor displays some of the estimated €2.5million cannabis herb seized in Coolock on Saturday at a press conference in Dublin this morning.

Garda Info has tweeted that one small bag is “worth €20,000″.

Man arrested as cannabis worth €2.5m seized in Dublin (RTÉ)

(Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland)