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THE JUDGE PRESIDING over the new Disclosures Tribunal has said that any lie told to the inquiry will be a ‘waste of what ordinary men and women have paid for’.
Justice Peter Charleton, giving his opening statement, noted that the investigation is a drain on the resources of the Irish people, saying the public wants his work to be completed expediently.
Mentioning the length of previous inquiries, he said he did not see any reason why parallel legal challenges (in the High Court) would be taken. “If a person has a problem, that person should first of all apply to the tribunal in a genuine manner.”
The Supreme Court judge said that he has no “preconceived notions” about who is a hero and who is a villain.
Michelle Hennessy / TwitterJustice Peter Charleton arriving at Dublin Castle this morning #DisclosuresTribunal pic.twitter.com/z18is1llIo
— Michelle Hennessy (@michellehtweet) February 27, 2017
He called upon people with information pertinent to the probe into how whistleblowers have been treated by An Garda Síochána to provide written statements to the Tribunal solicitor Elizabeth Mullen.
‘Active, thought-through malice’
Charleton said the Tribunal will look at how top officials in An Garda Síochána react when concerns are raised by whistleblowers:
The central concern is whether such reaction has, possibly, and this is now unknown, not only been one of distate, but of active and thought-through malice whereby media briefings take place against individuals who rock the boat.
As if that were not enough, there is an additional question as to whether those who air concerns about poor policing may also be targeted and attacked as to their family life and as to their adherence to basic standards of human decency.
The first module will look at the response of Garda Commission Nóirín O’Sullivan, former Commissioner Martin Callinan and others at the highest command level to disclosures made by Sergeant Maurice McCabe and, in particular, the manner in which his character may possibly have been “undermined by calumny or detraction”.
Submissions will be heard, he explained, on whether there is privilege against disclosing instructions given by a client to their lawyer as to what is to be pursued in cross-examination. This relates to the O’Higgins Commission into allegations of garda malpractice in Bailieboro, Co Cavan, during which McCabe claims the Commissioner directed her counsel to discredit him.
Charleton said the tribunal was currently in the middle of reading the entire transcript of the Commission.
‘Naked deceit’
In relation to dealings with the media, the judge said the central witness will be Superintendent David Taylor, former head of the garda press office, who claims he was told to brief the media negatively that the whistleblower was motivated by malice and revenge.
The tribunal will also examine broadcasts on RTÉ television on 9 May 2016 purporting to be a leaked account of the unpublished O’Higgins Commission report and whether the Commissioner used briefing material prepared at Garda Headquarters to influence these broadcasts.
Charleton said he wants to know if the media was “used as an instrument for the dissemination of lies”. He also questioned whether privilege applies when the media is used as a tool of “naked deceit”.
The judge has asked anyone with knowledge of the matters in the terms of reference to send a detailed written statement to Elizabeth Mullan, a solicitor to the tribunal, at Dublin Castle, Dublin D02 Y337. Statements should be submitted by close of business on 13 March 2017. Further information can be found on the tribunal’s website.
With reporting by Sinéad O’Carroll
I suspect Johnson may emerge from his vaccine lap ahead, scornfully glancing at the EU, by forcing an early election while branding Labour a bunch of chickens if they initially resist – and then forging ahead with the Tory majority extended from 80 to 100 or so.
And then if there’s a hot Summer of protest up North he’ll play the great statesman by calling for the Northern Ireland protocol to be scrapped or unilaterally scrapping it, in an effort to strategically weaken Ireland’s relationship with the EU, while contently watching whether there’ll be a land border as a result.
I think we might well be in for a few more laughs with this joker.
@Mick Tobin: Am no fan of the yanks but we might need them to put the pressure on the UK re a trade deal if you’re right.
I should perhaps add that Johnson might also want to consider renaming his party the ENP – the English National Party.
@Mick Tobin: it’s unreal how quite Labour are. They really need to kick in with something solid soon.
@Paul Furey: They can’t, there’s absolutely b***** all they can do at the moment. They tried moving to the hard left under Corbyn – seemingly an effort to move away from Blair which already started with Ed Miliband, and that obviously didn’t work.
Now they’re back at the centre and all they can do is wait until the corona crisis is over, and it’s back to the everyday realities including those of Brexit. Then perhaps they have a shot at coming up with a few viable alternatives (such as joining the customs union).
I think for one they need another leader, perhaps Manchester mayor Andy Burnham. In any case I’m afraid it’ll be a long time before they have a serious chance at winning an election.
@Mick Tobin: You are hypothesising my worst fears. He is a deplorable joke of a man with zero integrity, morals. His political and career ambitions trumps anything like an international peace treaty such as the GFA. There will be terrible consequences for the UK but if the terds amplify scenes like week he could have his excuse.
@Gary Garden: In a sense Johnson is simply a representative of the usual confrontational divide-and-conquer style of British politics – albeit a more serious case. But Brexit has made it spill over onto the international stage, with Ireland the first scapegoat to be encountered there.
@Mick Tobin: you had me at ‘joker’… spoiled it with this prejudiced postscript. Shame.
@Paul Furey:
Since Corbyn was shafted there is no opposition, Starmer is Tory light, just like Blair.
Same happened here with Labour becoming FG Light.
No opposition in the UK and only SF as opposition here with PBP, SD and a few others.
Awful Shame everyone has shifted to the Right
@Mick Tobin: an nationalist leader, Ireland would benefit greatly from one
For a small Irish newspaper to infer that the British prime minister is some sort of circus character is a bit rich considering what you have for a government in Ireland.
@Michael Maher: the guardian is not Irish, it started in Manchester & it has become a laughable shadow of its former self.
@Richard Cronin: The Journal took up on it
@Michael Maher: this is journal most of the articles on here are copy & paste jobs from associated press (American). That don’t make it irish, it makes journal a poor news site that is why most people come on here for the comments.
@Richard Cronin: 100%
He is certainly no mug.
@Scott Coulter: he is actually. He’s out of his depth. He wanted the lead role in his school, he got and hadn’t a clue what to do. He wanted the
He is Penny wise and Pound……
A very good read. Unfortunately we have a government who is not performing like Johnson but by their actions, have inadvertently become clowns. Everything they touch at the moment is falling apart. These clowns are not giving us anything to laugh at and the audience are far from happy.
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