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Updated: 15.18
MICHEÁL MARTIN HAS accused Enda Kenny of misleading the Dáil in relation to former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan’s resignation.
Referencing the Taoiseach’s ‘Paddy likes to know’ comment, Martin told reporters: ”Paddy has been in the dark now for 12 months.”
“The Taoiseach, in my view, has deliberately hidden the truth in this from day one.”
When it was pointed out that if Enda Kenny spoke publicly about Callinan’s resignation while Justice Nial Fennelly continued his investigation he would be overriding the retired Supreme Court judge’s wishes, Martin said Kenny “should have spoken before [the commission] was established”.
Martin said he had made no charges against Fennelly, just Kenny.
It’s entirely a matter for the independent judge to proceed with the investigation as he sees fit.
“If Deputy Martin wishes to question that, that is entirely a matter for him,” he added.
The Fianna Fáil leader described the indefinite delay into the report as “unacceptable” and “outrageous”.
‘Utterly disgraceful’
The Taoiseach was asked about the issue today, and he didn’t hold back – describing Martin’s comments as “utterly disgraceful”.
“He has deliberately attempted here to override the integrity and the independence of the Fennelly Commission.
Deputy Martin was a minister in the government that introduced the legislation dealing with independent commissions of inquiry. He knows that it is illegal, it is an offence, for anybody involved in the commission to make any comment on that issue.
Kenny added that he had the “utmost respect” for Justice Fennelly, and noted it was the justice committee that called for Callinan’s resignation to be included in the inquiry.
Ian Bailey case
Justice Fennelly wrote to the Taoiseach telling him the report has been delayed due to Ian Bailey’s legal battle with the state.
Bailey is suing the state and Garda Commissioner for alleged wrongful arrest in connection with the death of Sophie Toscan du Plantier.
In the letter, which was published on the Taoiseach’s website on Friday, Fennelly says the case is linked to the secret Garda recordings which led to Callinan’s resignation.
Yesterday Martin said the suggestion that “the truth of the Taoiseach’s involvement in the departure of Martin Callinan will now potentially not be known until after the General Election is simply outrageous and unacceptable”.
“The idea that the report will be mothballed indefinitely on the grounds that there are elements of the report that relate to the ongoing case being taken by Ian Bailey, must be challenged.”
There are very serious questions about the involvement of the Taoiseach and the Secretary General of the Department of Justice in the departure of a Garda Commissioner. Answering these questions never required any investigation – the Taoiseach could have simply come into the Dáil and given a proper account of what happened.
Originally published: 15.21, 9 February
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Cos that decisions not gonna cause any problems.
“A nonagenarian lawyer representing a Hindu deity “ ..well presumably the lawyer for the other side is also representing a fictitious deity?
This is a very dangerous development.
@Gary Sheahan: why?
When the gods start warring with each other it seems to go on forever .I wonder did ever hear about a Good Friday kind of thing and follow their poor mortals and come up with some sort of arrangement
Hmm, what could possibly go wrong?
India going out of their way to piss off the muslims
@Mr.Misery: yep the Danes and French caused mayhem with a couple of cartoons. What are the Indians thinking??
@Greg Daniel: PM Modi is a Hindu ethno-nationalist, he’s been whipping up anti-Muslim sentiment for ages in India as a means to get into and hold onto power-he is a dangerous individual who will end up formenting mass murder if he’s not careful
@Mr.Misery: What could India possibly have against the religion that killed as many as 80 million of their people?
@DJ François: Yep, definitely. Kashmir was only the start of it. Now this. Lots more to come
@Fifty Shades of Sé: 80 million Indians killed by Muslims? Where did you get that from?
@Fifty Shades of Sé: religion killed 80 million? Hope they caught it.
@DJ François: hate mongering at it’s worst
@Niall Carry: I’m a Hindu. I know what we have suffered at the hands of invaders since time immemorial
But that is what Islam does, look at all the Christian sites in Israel as they all had an Islamic site built on most of them. And Christians did the same to pagan sites and so on and so on…
have your say