Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
“SOMETHING IS ROTTEN in the state of Denmark.”
What the hell is happening within An Garda Síochána?
Today, politicians have been lining up to call for the Commissioner’s job, to question if the force is (still) mired by dysfunctionality and to show serious concern about how gardaí are treated if they blow the whistle.
Since Fine Gael entered government in 2011, we’ve seen a Justice Minister and a Commissioner resign. We’ve had numerous reports into various practices within An Garda Síochána. There have been endless front pages about GSOC investigations. New legislation has been enacted to try to protect whistleblowers. And, finally, an independent Policing Authority was established – which, so far, has been none too impressed with what it has seen.
Yet, here we are again.
“Groundhog Day,” exclaimed Mary Lou McDonald in the Dáil.
“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark,” her opposition colleague Charlie McConalogue said from the Fianna Fáil benches.
“It is over two years,” an exasperated Mick Wallace added.
How in God’s name can the Minister say she is dealing with these matters?
Despite sending an email to all members over the summer about how to be a whistleblower, it seems management are still coming to terms with how to deal with that breed of garda.
The latest scandal
On Tuesday morning, the Irish Examiner’s Mick Clifford revealed that two senior gardaí had made protected disclosures of a very serious nature to the Justice Minister.
Under whistleblower legislation, they told Frances Fitzgerald that senior garda management orchestrated a significant campaign to destroy the name and character of a another garda whistleblower.
They allege that the campaign included:
One of the gardaí who has made the disclosure has admitted to taking part in the campaign.
Was this not said before?
As Wallace mentioned during Leaders’ Questions today, we have been talking about the treatment of whistleblowers for years; namely John Wilson and Maurice McCabe, as well as the lesser-known Keith Harrison and Nick Keogh.
Clare Daly summed up how their lives have gone since blowing the whistle in the Dáil yesterday:
Nevertheless, two and a half years on, this whistleblower [Nick Keogh] has been out sick for almost a year and is surviving on just over €200 per week. He has had five internal investigations drummed up against him. Medical certificates submitted that stated he was out with work-related stress were changed to indicating absence from flu. Meanwhile, the superintendent who stood over all that is on the promotions list.
“Four times one of the garda whistleblowers wrote directly to the Minister for Justice and told her of the treatment he was experiencing.
He made the point that as his colleague in a different region was getting exactly the same treatment, it could not be a coincidence and it was inconceivable that senior management and the Garda Commissioner would not be aware of it.
“Deputy Wallace and I have raised what has been happening to whistleblowers Nick Keogh and Keith Harrison – who is out for two years, surviving on a pittance with a young family – 19 times.
“His post has been opened and garda patrol cars have cruised down a lane on which he lived, 25km from the nearest garda station. The HSE has called to his children. This has all happened on Garda Commissioner O’Sullivan’s watch.”
What are they actually blowing the whistle on?
Keogh was working as a drugs unit officer in Athlone when he came forward with information about garda involvement in the selling of heroin in the area. He also alleged there was coercion of non-criminal residents into buying drugs in an attempt to boost drugs-unit statistics.
Last weekend, the Sunday Times reported that Keogh’s claims have been substantiated in an internal garda inquiry.
According to journalist John Mooney, the probe found evidence of garda collusion in heroin dealing. It also confirmed that a senior garda took no meaningful action when told about alleged corruption back in 2009. Those involved now face disciplinary measures.
Harrison also worked in Athlone when he arrested a fellow officer for drink driving. After this incident, he says he was harassed and bullied by other members of the force.
Those claims include: the suggestion that people Harrison had previously arrested had been asked whether or not they wished to make complaints about him, Garda surveillance being placed on him with minimal justification, and information regarding a garda inquiry into him being deliberately leaked.
Harrison was eventually transferred to Buncrana in Donegal after being confined to desk work for two years. Currently on unpaid sick leave, he claims that he suffered panic attacks during a five-year campaign of bullying perpetrated by his fellow officers.
Didn’t we deal with Maurice McCabe already?
McCabe became a well-known figure in Ireland after airing concerns around procedures and practices in the Cavan/Monaghan garda division.
He worried about the treatment of victims, as well as the manner in which crimes were investigated in some instances. He has said that the way he was treated subsequently destroyed him, his career and his family.
He was vindicated on the publication of the O’Higgins Report which found him to be a truthful and credible witness, if prone to exaggeration at times.
The judge described the sergeant as a dedicated and committed member of the force who showed courage and has performed a “genuine public service at considerable cost”.
O’Higgins also noted that McCabe took actions out of legitimate and genuine concerns. He also upheld some of his claims. That report concluded that victims of crime in Cavan were failed by gardaí because of deficiencies, resources and problems with management.
And is this latest story more or less significant?
It is more important for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, the latest whistleblowers are senior gardaí. One of them has also admitted to being a party in a campaign against another member who had made a protected disclosure.
The Taoiseach has even admitted that the details in the reports from them could very well lead to “the appointment of a sitting judge to look at the documentation”.
More than likely, any investigation will fall outside GSOC’s remit. This might be a good thing as its new chairperson Mary Ellen Ring has already told Oireachtas members that her organisation lacks the “teeth” and resources to deal with issues arising from complaints from whistleblowers.
Secondly, the similarities of the known whistleblowers’ stories can not be easily ignored.
Sick leave, unpaid leave and dealing with media reports and local rumours have been part of the post-whistleblowing routine as mentioned by Daly yesterday.
One of the allegations made this week was that politicians and media were given briefings about those who made complaints.
Last May, Fianna Fáil’s John McGuinness told the Dáil that he met with the former commissioner, Martin Callinan in a hotel car park two years ago to talk about McCabe.
At the time, O’Sullivan said she was ‘not aware’ of that meeting.
Wasn’t this all meant to be reformed already?
We have heard a lot about garda reform since O’Sullivan took over the reins from Martin Callinan.
GSOC has been given more powers – but not enough, as referenced above – and the Policing Authority has been established to provide oversight of the force.
But many within An Garda Síochána have pointed to a culture that has not changed. Some have said that O’Sullivan’s oft-repeated remark that dissent is not disloyalty is mere lipservice and not the reality on the ground.
Following the publication of the O’Higgins Report earlier this year, it emerged that at one stage there was an intention to argue to the inquiry that the sergeant made his concerns about work in the Cavan-Monaghan district because of a grudge he held against a senior officer.
There were many questions – which remain mostly unanswered – whether the Commissioner had planned to attack the ‘integrity, motivation and credibility’ of Sergeant McCabe as the probe began.
She has always denied this is the case, saying that whistleblowers – including McCabe – were friends of the gardaí.
What next?
Fitzgerald wasn’t giving much away today, telling Mary Lou McDonald and Mick Wallace that due process would have to be followed.
She also said that there is no reason for her to not have full confidence in the Commissioner given that no findings of wrongdoing have been made against her.
Although she said she was “extremely concerned” about policing in Athlone, the Tánaiste noted that the protected disclosures were merely allegations and not findings of fact.
For her part, O’Sullivan has said that “she was not privy to nor approved of any action designed to target any garda employee who may have made a protected disclosure and would condemn any such action”.
However, the calls for her to resign are mounting. If these latest allegations stick and Daly is correct that there is a “huge gulf” between O’Sullivan’s public statements and what is actually happening under her watch, then she may need to be wary of any late-night knocks on her door. It could be a public servant waiting to do Enda Kenny’s bidding. Martin Callinan can tell her all about it.
And those less well off are less likely to vote. But when mobilised. can turn an election. That’s what we are seeing. And why do the less well off react to issues like immigration in such force? Because low paid workers are the ones who have to compete with immigrants, many of who will work for far less wages, and therefore they drive the supply of jobs and wages for those jobs downwards. Can you blame them for opposing immigration?
“It’s the economy stupid”
Mr that is so true. All politicians use the poor vote to get elected. and then turn their back on them. It’s happened forever and will continue for ever.
@Patrick Gough: Total and simple manipulation, Brexit and Trump used it to good effect, and Clinton lost as she didn’t address them in the first place.
@Mr Snuffleupagus: And ‘Don the Con’ is the very man to sort that out for those poor devils,that is of course, after he gets another few foreign workers to work in his vineyard for $10 an hour..Oh,and those pesky foreign workers will have to pay for a place to stay,too..Yikes! By the way…did the lads that flew into the twin towers come into the USA through that foreign visa that the Don is using ? Hmmmmm
Funny that no too many Americans seem to be that interested in flipping burgers,picking up laundry, dishwasher or picking strawberries or what industry are you exactly referring too where they have to compete
@Red Marauder: Any industry you choose.Large scale Immigration into Ireland is a very new phenomenon. Prior to that. there were plenty of people here willing to work in McDonalds, do laundry and pick strawberries. You have essentially made my point. It’s now been outsourced to immigrants as they’ll do it for half nothing.
I disagree, there is of course the minimum wage each worker is entitled too, not half, look at the Netherlands for example, which has on of the lowest employment rates of the European, yet nr1 issue is migration and right wing party is doing well in the polls, there are other things at play there, most migration is from EU citizens coming to Ireland, not from middle east or south America
@Mr Snuffleupagus: And look which parties let in the most migrants, doesn’t seem to reflect on them winning elections based on media spin and lies. The UK electorate have continued to be duped by the tories since 2010, when will they wake up and realise this.
We can’t have a functioning democracy when one man practically controls the entire media and uses the courts to stamp out any dissenting opinions.
Well you can see from the spending the main parties here in Ireland engage in during elections that it’s all about money.
@Kerry Blake: having significant media interests and resulting opinion influence also helps.
I think they are still failing to see the worldwide shift, recessions have come before and people swung left or right. This time it’s more than that because people recognise that their is a general failure to deliver from established parties, the don’t trust any of them to raise standards or work in their interest, hence the protest vote, which could be in any direction so long as it gives the fingers.
Put very simply in Irish terms, if you are comfortably off, have a good life style, good housing and access to education and health for your children, there will be a tendency to have a smug and complacent satisfaction with FF and FG. These parties look after the haves and ensure the protection and advancement of privilege.
If life is difficult and austerity has bitten more severely in its impact on you, your family and your community, then you will be less likely to be so wholehearted in your support of FF and FG.
There are exceptions. For example, austerity, insecurity and harsh times will move some of the victims of austerity and socially discriminatory policies to the hard right, blaming immigration, for example, as the threat to their continuing survival.
@Micheal OLainn: To be honest Michael, if you feel like that why bother voting at all because things will never change to suit the majority of people in this country. Having a paid job is your sense of worth to society and doing something to help your community should be enough to satisfy most people.
For many of us iIt isn’t a fight against the system it is to try and improve our self worth in a selfish society. If you aspire to a certsin lifestyle then for most of us it is to work for it.
Hard to argue with the findings.
The problem of course for Democrats is that they eventually ran out of other people’s money to spend.
Hence their darling Hillary being banished to the political wilderness.
Which I’m quite OK with to be honest.
@Alex Falcone: Who’s money is Trump spending to “keep” those jobs in Carrier ? Do tell.
The vote of a wealthy person carries more influence than the vote of a poor person.
Governments respond to the lobbying and influence of the wealthy, not of the poor.
The wealthy use money, the media and other methods of control and influence over public opinion to put into power the Government they know will be most protective of their wealth and privileged.
Does anyone seriously think that, as a citizen, they have as an individual even a tiny fraction of the influence and direction of Denis O’Brien?
One of the things about living in a democracy is that the vote of a poor person is worth the exact same as the vote of a wealthy person.
There’s no doubt that wealth buys influence and smooths the road towards standing for election, but that’s a different issue.
@Avina Laaf: but you overlook the why of voting and who is voted for. Each bpvotr counts equally but what influences the what and the why of voting for particulate candidates and the vested interests that they represent cannot be ignored.
The second dimension is that par works well when there is real politucal chiice but poorly when the range of views expressed by candidates is limited.
It is important to look under the surface and not to be beguiled by simplistic understandings.
@Micheal OLainn: Well if you buy newspapers owed by Denis O’Brien or Rupert Murdock you get what you pay for…..pure rubbish and propaganda, so stop buying them.
It’s not just income inequality. It’s also that a large portion of the country felt POLITICALLY and/or CULTURALLY unequal… Suffocating and being overpowered by the leftist establishment government, bullsh*t MSM, narcissistic moralising academia and SJWs, and perceived existential threats such as globalised capitalism, Jihadism, multi-culturalism and so on.
People wanted a major shift culturally. Trump was seen as a “change candidate” in more ways than economic.
@George Brown: you got it in one! Just add 2nd and 3rd wave feminism to the list.
Shame how tarnished feminism’s name has become since BuzzFeed and the like tried to associate themselves with it
Paul lad, tell your (bah humbug) boss to go stuff a Christmas pudding in their Gob and then go home to your family. Whatever news there is today can be read tomorrow. Have a Happy Chrimbo !!
@Graham McKibbin: He probably is at home. The vast majority of today’s article so far are not time relevant. They are written a few days ago most likely. This is normal at Xmas in media too. Skelton staff, prewritten articles.
This is a typical tabloid statement from a sheep that follows what the political consensus say to justify their battered egos after having the muck beaten out of than by an electorate that are just fed up of corrupt imbeciles at the helm of the titanic who’s manifest is only to find icebergs instead of finding a destination where everyone wants to go.
All politics is local .. and there’s nothing more local than people’s wallets.
To win voter support taxes must comply with principles of taxation (in a word fairness):-
- No 2-Tier Taxes .. LPT (owners taxed but not state housed), Car Tax (pre 2008 v post 2008), Water (Urban v rural)
- No Regressive Taxes .. LPT, Car Tax, Water, VAT on first time buyers .. fails to allow for inability to pay.
- No Taxes on “Life Essentials” , Food (incl water), air, shelter, clothing, sanitation, health, personal transport, ed …
- Comply with Canons of Taxation .. must allow for inability to pay..
Else we are all moving quickly to political and social unrest .. more Brexits, Trumps, Le Pens …
@Neuville-Kepler62F: Thats an interesting observation, but we should also realise in Ireland that services need to be paid for especialy when workers are relying of their income.
Talking to an elderly friend this week living alone in the UK and paying £1,100 per year council tax. I think that there would be riots in the streets of Ireland if the government here imposed council tax.
@Chris Kirk: Nail on the head why Brexit happened …. UK political class utterly vindictive, even imposed a bedroom tax (spare) on family homes. No pensioner (or family) should be taxed on their Family Home. It is a Life essential (shelter).
Progressive, appropriate, moderate and fair taxes are acceptable to fund public services.
Taxes which fail the 4 Frameworks of Good Taxation Policy should be abolished. Broadening the tax base is not acceptable when they fail basic canons of taxation rules .. such as “ability to pay”!
Italy abolished its hated LPT on family homes in Dec 2015.
Sweden abolished its hated inheritance tax . TD knocks on the door on the death of a relative demanding tax.
France abolished its annual Motor tax in 2001. Personal transport (car) is a basic need in modern world.
Economic inequality is not noticed by the elite because 99% of the increases in income go to them. And then they are shocked when we dont vote as they command.
“…..driven largely by the very rich getting richer…”
As to why this is the case would be too much for our shallow pencil-pushers who like to refer to themselves as ‘journalists’.
And what
have your say