Former Garda Commissioner and then Assistant Garda Commissioner Noirín O’Sullivan speaking at Public Accounts Committee in January 2014

You may recall former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan speaking at a meeting of the Joint Oireachtas Committee of Public Accounts on January 23, 2014.

Mr Callinan made that ‘disgusting’ remark in relation to the Garda whistleblowers Sgt Maurice McCabe and John Wilson during the meeting.

Mr Callinan, who was sitting next to the then assistant Garda Commissioner Noirín O’Sullivan at the time, said:

“My position is very clear, anyone that makes any report of wrongdoing to me, I will deal with it very, very seriously indeed. And I’m sure I speak for my officers here beside me, and beyond, when I say that is the case. And we will not be isolating anybody who makes a complaint of wrongdoing against another member of the force.”

“…I will not allow anybody to be bullied or harassed or anything of that nature, intimidate, any adverb, any adjective you choose to use, that will not happen on my watch, as far as I’m concerned, if people are reporting wrongdoing. But there is a mechanism and a procedure for doing it and that shouldn’t be going off to a third party with a whole raft of very, very serious allegations, criminal and otherwise and producing those elsewhere.”

“…There isn’t a whisper anywhere else, from any other member of An Garda Siochana about this corruption, this malpractice and all of those things that are levelled against their fellow officers. I, frankly, I think it’s quite disgusting. On a personal level, I think it’s quite disgusting.”

Further to this, and this week’s publication of the O’Higgins report into allegations made by Sgt Maurice McCabe….

In today’s Irish Examiner, Michael Clifford reports that claims made by Noirín O’Sullivan’s senior counsel to the O’Higgins Commission of Investigation – that Garda whistleblower Sgt Maurice McCabe was acting out of malice – were proven to be untrue.

Yet they weren’t included in Justice O’Higgins’ findings.

Ms O’Sullivan was represented by Colm Smyth, SC, while Sgt McCabe was represented by Michael McDowell, SC, now a Senator.

Mr Clifford reports:

At the very early stages, the inquiry was told by senior counsel for Ms O’Sullivan that evidence would be produced to show that Sgt McCabe had told two other officers that he was making his complaints because of malice he harboured towards a senior officer.

The inquiry was informed that the two officers had taken notes at the meeting in question and prepared a report which was forwarded to a senior officer.

However, a few days after the submission, Sgt McCabe informed Mr O’Higgins he had a tape recording of the meeting in question.

Mr O’Higgins indicated that the transcript coincided precisely with Sgt McCabe’s version of events and was in conflict with the allegation that he had told the two officers he was motivated by malice.

…At the inquiry, the commissioner was represented by the same counsel as two of the officers against whom Sgt McCabe had made allegations.

A Garda spokesperson said the commissioner was barred by statute from commenting on the commission.

Garda Commissioner claimed Maurice McCabe was motivated by ‘malice’ (Irish Examiner)