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FORMER GARDA COMMISSIONER Martin Callinan met with then-Public Accounts Commission (PAC) chairman John McGuinness in a Bewley’s car park to talk about Maurice McCabe, the Fianna Fáil TD has claimed.
The 20-30 minute meeting came ahead of Maurice McCabe’s appearance at the PAC with McGuinness saying that “vile and disturbing” stories about the garda whistleblower were relayed to him.
Speaking to RTÉ’s This Week programme, McGuinness said that the meeting was at the request of Callinan who also chose the location of a Bewley’s car park on the Naas Road.
McGuinness said that he believes the intention of the meeting was to raise doubts about the reliability of Sergeant McCabe.
“It was outlined to me the various question marks over Maurice McCabe, and I questioned whether or not he should meet directly with Maurice McCabe and attempt to sort out all of the range of issues that were in the public domain,” McGuinness said.
The intention I think of the meeting was to suggest that he had question marks over him, I didn’t accept that.
McGuinness said that what he was told by Callinan about the whistleblower “wasn’t new” and that he had already spoken to McCabe about the claims.
McGuinness ultimately decided that PAC would go ahead with its plan to hear evidence from the whistleblower.
“There were never any documents produced at any level, or at any stage, that would indicate that the PAC should not take evidence from Maurice McCabe,” the TD says.
McGuinness added that he did not tell McCabe about the meeting with the commissioner.
“What was related to me were so vile and disturbing that I did not want to relate it to Sergeant McCabe, and I’d heard it before,” he said.
Discredit
McGuinness first spoke about his meeting with Callinan in a speech to the Dáil on Thursday in which he described efforts to “discredit” McCabe as “absolutely appalling”.
“Every effort was made by those within the Garda Síochána at senior level to discredit Garda Maurice McCabe,” he told the house.
The Garda Commissioner confided in me in a car park on the Naas Road that Garda McCabe was not to be trusted and there were serious issues about him. The vile stories that circulated about Garda McCabe, which were promoted by senior officers in the Garda Síochána were absolutely appalling.
McGuinness says that he was not asked by Callinan to keep the meeting secret, adding that he has decided to speak about it now because of questions being raised about McCabe.
The reason why I’m raising it now is because the finger is being pointed, I suppose, at Maurice McCabe. It has to be asked, who else within the Garda Síochána at that level knew at that time about the efforts that were being made.
Great idea fair play. Now if we could just get people to stop littering in the first place….
All suggestions welcome.
Make people who are caught littering have to pick up litter for a week. A lot to be said for community service.
Yep don’t litter ! Or else big Paul gonna sort ya out.
People who use selfie sticks need to be excommunicated from society.
Public crime deserves public shaming. Saturday and Sunday in a busy mainstreet near there home. With their name on a bib . Put them in the paper or on tv after the angelus. They do it in Bolivia for a host of offences. Just need wardens on commission to enforce it. Draconian but I bet it would work.
Take more than a weekend. All sponsored by a tax exile
The tax exile that puts money directly into the community and charities alike whilst bypassing bankers paydays?
Fair play to JP, Paul O’Connell and everyone involved in this idea. Ideally something like this shouldn’t be needed, great getting the people of Limerick together and invoke a community spirit that has disappeared in recent years. Good to see Limerick in the media for a feel good story like this instead of the usual portrayal by the national media.
Well done Limerick. Great idea for getting people out and about and working as a community.
Great work Paul
Well done to all involved and the weather is also improving…it will be a beautiful weekend in Lovely Limerick
I’ve often wondered couldn’t the authorities request all the customers from the bin collection services and anyone who isn’t paying to have their rubbish taken away be questioned as to what they are doing with it? I mean it’s a disgrace we have a beautiful countryside and its being ruined.
Great to see. As generations have passed I have felt we’re all getting a little more self involved and losing what made /makes Ireland great, community spirit. Activities like this make you proud in a way that maybe we’ve still got it.
I recommend anyone should do a clean up with their local tidy towns at least once to see what people do to our countryside!
We talk about promoting Ireland as a place for tourists and for business yet we have one hand tied behind our back with people who throw out rubbish from their cars etc into the hedgerows and verges of our roads!
Not one word about JP McManus???
He’s mentioned in the piece, Danny
Jp donated 150,000e to the cause and help organise high visi vests and paying Mr binman to collect the rubbish
Thats not me at all. I was in Dublin today giving Joan one
A great day for Limerick.
A great idea! Should be done every year in the future.
JP and Paul are a credit to Limerick.
Well done!
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