This morning.
Following the second part of a two-part documentary on RTÉ 1 about Garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe last night.
A petition calling for the State not to pay for the legal representation of former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan in an action taken against him by Maurice McCabe has reached more than 14,000 signatures.
At the Disclosures Tribunal Judge Peter Charleton accepted Fianna Fail TD John McGuinness’s evidence that Mr Callinan told him Sgt McCabe “fiddles with kids” and referred to both Sgt McCabe and former Garda John Wilson as “fucking headbangers” in January 2014.
He accepted that Mr Callinan told Mr McGuinness, during a meeting in a car park of Bewley’s Hotel on the Naas Road, Dublin, on Friday, January 24, 2014, that Sgt McCabe sexually abused his children and nieces.
And he accepted that Mr Callinan led him to believe there was a live investigation of some kind, causing Mr McGuinness to believe that charges against Sgt McCabe were imminent.
Judge Charleton accepted that Mr Callinan told Fine Gael TD John Deasy, on the way to a Public Accounts Committee meeting on Thursday, January 23, 2014, that Sgt McCabe was not to be believed or trusted with anything.
He also accepted the evidence of the Comptroller and Auditor General Seamus McCarthy – whose report into the quashing of penalty points was being discussed at that PAC meeting – that Mr Callinan told him Sgt McCabe was not to be trusted, that he had questions to answer, and that there were live allegations of sexual offences against him.
The judge also accepted that Mr Callinan told RTE journalist Philip Boucher-Hayes, before a broadcast of RTE’s Crimecall in December 2013, that Sgt McCabe was a “troubled individual” with a “lot of psychological issues and psychiatric issues”.
And the tribunal heard that Mr Callinan briefed celebrity solicitor Gerald Kean before Mr Kean went on the Marian Finucane Show in January 2014, during which Mr Kean alleged that Mr McCabe and Mr Wilson had not cooperated with an internal garda investigation into the penalty points controversy.
After Mr McCabe sent Mr Kean a legal letter about his comments threatening a defamation action, Mr Kean sent the letter on to Mr Callinan asking for his help in replying to Mr McCabe.
Mr Callinan, in turn, wrote up several paragraphs for Mr Kean to insert into this reply to Mr McCabe – which were inserted word for word.
Judge Peter Charleton wrote:
“So, the Garda Commissioner, by profession a criminal law enforcement officer, was drafting a letter for a solicitor on a legal problem, defamation, which the solicitor had. No comment is needed on this. Maurice McCabe subsequently took a defamation action against RTÉ and Gerald Kean. The case against Gerald Kean was not ultimately pursued, while a settlement was reached between Maurice McCabe and RTÉ.”
The petition can be signed here
Watch ‘Whistleblower’ Part 2 here.
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