FOUR OF THE five members of an Garda Síochana connected to the controversial ‘rape’ remarks concerning two Corrib gas protesters have been reassigned to desk duty in Castlebar Garda Station.

Justice minister Alan Shatter told the Dáil this afternoon that all five of the officers would remain assigned to office work pending the outcomes of the various investigations currently ongoing into the incident.

One of the five officers concerned was already based in Castlebar, and the remaining four officers would be transferred there from their current stations.

Shatter said the transfers were for the “good of the force” and said he had already received a copy of the Garda report into the incident from Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan.

In a statement of his own this evening, Callinan said the report indicated that the conversation “did take place between members of An Garda Síochána and that the words reported were used.”

Canninan apologised for the comments and said the force aspired “to the highest standards of professionalism in our investigative and operational work – but this must be combined with respect, sensitivity and compassion in our dealings with the community.”

The sentiments expressed in the recording of the ‘rape’ remarks were not reflective of the views of the majority of Gardaí, he added.

RTÉ News says it understood that the officers involved have acknowledged that the comments were unacceptible.

This morning, one of the women referred to in the remarks came forward and named herself as Jerrie Ann Sullivan, a postgraduate student who claimed she had no choice to reveal herself after Gardaí released her name and address to “several journalists”.

This evening a Shell to Sea spokesperson said a representative for Sullivan and the second woman had sought a postponement of a planned meeting with the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.

There were several reasons for this request, the spokesperson said, but one reason was that the second woman was suffering trauma as a result of the incident and was therefore not yet in a position to attend.

“Both women hope to make a complaint together as soon as this is possible,” the spokesperson said.