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THE GOVERNMENT’S INSISTENCE in 1983 that two of the most senior gardaí in the State were not asked to resign or retire over the phone tapping scandal is undermined by details that have emerged in documents released under the 30-year rule.
State papers disclosed by the National Archives this month contain a letter from the Garda Commissioner Patrick McLaughlin to the then Justice Minister Michael Noonan in the senior garda says “it is apparent that you and the Government feel that I have not lived up adequately to my responsibilities”.
The letter, informing Noonan of his decision to retire the following month, came on foot of a conversation between the pair on 19 January 1983 – just as the scandal was about the break – which had led McLaughlin to his beliefs as outlined in the letter dated 20 January.
Noonan insisted to the media at the time that both McLaughlin and his deputy commissioner Joseph Ainsworth were not asked to resign and that “there was no question of asking them to retire”.
But records from the Department of the Taoiseach reveal a draft of government minutes entitled ‘Garda Siochána: Removal of Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner from Office’:
The draft minutes detail how the Minister was seeking authorisation to inform them “that the government have lost confidence in them” and “that, on that account, the government propose to remove them from those offices”. A handwritten note inserts the word ‘consider’ between ‘to’ and ‘remove’.
Later drafts use far more diplomatic language and Noonan instead seeks authorisation from government to inform both McLaughlin and Ainsworth that if interviews with them “develop on lines that suggested to him [Noonan] that it would be necessary or appropriate to do so, he should 1. indicate to them that a situation might develop where their continuance in office could come into question, and 2. invite them to make any comments that they might wish to make in that context”.
The documents released this month also detail McLaughlin’s letter to Noonan on the day that the scandal broke, in which the outgoing commissioner writes: “In particular I am thought by you not to have measured up in the exercise of control relative to the matters discussed.”
“In the circumstances it would not be appropriate for me to try to continue in the post.”
He states that his retirement on 1 February “does not mean that I am in away culpable in the controversy” beyond, he writes, signing a ‘postal warrant’ for the tapping of Irish Independent journalist Bruce Arnold’s phone.
He goes on to say that neither Arnold, nor Sunday Tribune political correspondent Geraldine Kennedy, were found to have any connections to criminality and that the request for warrants to intercept their conversations came from the Minister for Justice, Seán Doherty, and not from within the garda force.
McLaughlin writes that he had no knowledge of the supply of a tape recorder to then Tánaiste and Finance Minister Ray MacSharry for recording a conversation with Martin O’Donoghue, but noted: “If we are requested to supply something to a Government Minister we have very little option but to comply.”
See National Archives, Reference 2013/100/115
The other side of this coin, however, is that in the next election (which may be soon), SF will run far more candidates and the extra seats they win will come from PbP, SD, Greens, and all the others who this time benefited from the large SF surpluses.
@Ruairí Ó HEithir: I don’t think so lad. The likely final result is:
SF 37
FF 37
FG 36 (+ “non-member” Lowry)
Grn 12
SD 6
Lab 6
Sol 5
Ind 19
Oth 2
So you can get FF + FG + Greens w/ Michael as Taoiseach or;
SF + FF + Greens w/ Mary Lou as Taoiseach or;
SF + Lab + Sol/PBP + Greens + SD + 14 Independents.
Micheál Martin will be our next Taoiseach after a “transition period” for Leo to pad his parachute. SF weren’t brave enough to risk losing seats, pulled candidates when they should have been running more and won nothing more than a hollow “victory”.
@John Considine: option 3 please.
@John Considine: mar Lou as Taoiiseach with FF as partner….ah here give up the tablets
@John Considine: i counted FF getting to 39 seats? Is 37 the final amount? There are 7 seats left and FF look like taking 5 of them. Not great but keeps Mary Lou away from leadership
@Laughable: In that situation the Greens would be the Kingmakers. I suspect they will be pragmatic and not gamble on a 14 Independent longshot. I mean, could you even get enough Independents? Plus, some of these people are not very palatable, Verone Murphy for example; others are involved in their own Kerry Mafia thing, etc.
My money is on same as it ever was.
@SFAnkleTapper: it will be FF and SF with a small party and rotating Taoiseach or that left mix 3rd option similar to what Portugal have.
Can’t see a FF and FG coalition, it would further erode their base.
Or of course a caretaker government and we vote again.
@Martin McFly: I have the final 7 going to:
Wicklow:
3) Harris (FG) [Obligatory Booooooooooooo]
4) Donnelly (FF)
5) Matthews (Green)
Cavan-Monaghan
Distributing the Aontú vote now, then it will depend on how well the FF transfer goes when Gallagher is eliminated. I had this as FG earlier but I would now give it as likely FF. It’s close but:
4) Smith (FF)
5) Smyth (FF)
Sligo-Leitrim:
3) MacSharry
4) Feighan
This assumes the FG transfer holds up but but even then any FF transfers would split between 2 candidates. Very likely FG will take 4 here.
So -1 FG, +1 FF from my earlier prediction.
@SFAnkleTapper: It’s a possible option from the numbers. That said if FF can get 2 seats in Cavan-Monaghan they will be on 38, which actually makes a possible SF coalition more likely since Martin would then get to be Taoiseach.
@Ruairí Ó HEithir: I’ve a bit of a stupid question… Does anyone know when it’s decided that a candidate is excluded and that their votes are to be redistributed? I’ve had a look online but can’t seem to find anything. Thanks.
@Peter Cavey: It’s not a complete answer but essentially the candidate with lowest vote total after each count is eliminated.
Notable exceptions are if there is a surplus to be distributed and that surplus can theoretically save a candidate (or get them a refund on their deposit) or that multiple candidates can be excluded at once if they cannot theoretically get enough votes even when the candidate below them is eliminated. The latter mostly happens in the earlier counts when multiple candidates have very low vote totals.
@John Considine: thank you.
@John Considine: with only 1 or 2 seat difference between them it will be a shared Taoiseach. Mary Lou has a much better chance of getting the nomination for Taoiseach when the Dail returns than Martin. This will give her more leverage during negotiations.
@Martin McFly: your wrong . go Mary . Go Mary …. hurrayyyyyyyyy
@Gerard Smith: As much as I might wish it would be otherwise I fear that FG/FF will choose the lesser threat of brand dilution over the existential threat that SF now represents to their combined vested interest. An interest, as has so often been pointed out during this campaign, that has been vested in them since the foundation of the state no less.
I wish I could celebrate with you but the pragmatist in me knows what I would do if I were them. 5 more years. We can fix it guys, we’ll maintain identity be carefully delineating responsibility and focusing our messaging. It’ll be fine guys, honest. I mean, consider the alternative…
I hope I’m wrong and you are right.
@John Considine:
Such a sore loser. Build the auld proverbial bridge and haul your ass across it!
@Ruairí Ó HEithir: Yeah voters trusted Sinn Fein sol pbp for change glad of the transfers glad Sinn Fein know that a weak fine geal fianna fail is their best advantage fg ff being tough on sf for decades good Sinn Fein remembers
@Pád: Yeah voters trusted Sinn Fein sol pbp for change glad of the transfers glad Sinn Fein know that a weak fine geal fianna fail is their best advantage fg ff being tough on sf for decades good Sinn Fein remembers
Can’t wait for all these new houses and perfect health system
@Ro-your-nan: A bunch of monkeys would do a better job than FFG anyway so things can only get better.
@Laughable: well we will have 37 in the Dail soon so let’s see how they do
@Ro-your-nan: Great comeback
Amazing to think it was always the two main parties of FF and FG that benefited the most from votes being passed down in the past. The turnaround speaks volumes about how unhappy the public have been with our Governments performance. FFG need to do some serious thinking about the reasons why they have preformed so badly in this election. I like that…
Worrying to see the demise of centrist policies and a resurgence of populist and nationalist “change” not just overseas, but at home also.
As Waterford’s newest TD might say “tháinig ár lá”
@James Brady: It’s not the same kind of nationalist, Sinn Fein are now a centre left party, just slightly more left I think than FF used to be years ago.
The just also happen to be a nationalist all Ireland party.
Nothing like the nationalist stuff going in in Eastern Europe for example.
@James Brady: As a fellow Centrist I do feel obliged to ask. When, exactly, do you think we had centrist representation here exactly? I wish I’d known about it, I’ve been alternating between centre-left and centre-right my entire life. It seems tome that in this country centrists must vote tactically because we don’t get direct representation.
@James Brady: I genuinely struggle to see how many of FG policies could be considered centrist. They are a completely “market’ driven party. Also some of the scare mongering about left leaning policies is ridiculous. 5 budgets into a left coalition in Portugal and the country is doing well. For me the fundamental thing that FFG need to learn from this election is that there are some areas of society that the public are not prepared to leave to the market because the market is only interested in profits. People want a country defined by society first not economy first. Of course the economy is vital but it should be guided by the type of society we want not the other way round. I really believe that young people are changing the political landscape and those parties that cant adapt to what the people deem as important will perish.
@Gerard Smith: Amen, well articulated and exactly where we are at.
@James Brady: centrist Blueshirts got us into the mess we are in. Do you think they’ll get us out??
A TD should at least have a grasp of basic grammar. Did, not done.
@Ciarán O’ Donoghue: That was exactly my thought!!! Delighted I wasn’t on my own!! Certainly “interesting” times ahead.
@Gerkygirl: Amoeba!
@Ciarán O’ Donoghue: pardon out imperfect Oirish accent, can’t all go to Clongoes
@Gerkygirl: oh dear!!!! Not everybody speaks like you!!!! Whatever will you do???!!! Heavens sake. Why don’t you go and meet the guy, he’s one of the most hard-working, down to earth people I’ve ever met. So quick to judge, yet not bother to get to know a thing about them.. nice.
The fact that Gerry Adams stepped down as leader is why sein fein have done so well. He was the one who connected both sides of the i r a and sien fein and people found it hard to vote for them. Personally I would rather have seen Gerry Adams facing the troika than the spineless shower that gave our country away
@Danny Flynn: Don’t think so! These new votes for SF were protest and “anyone but FFG” votes. However none of these new voters voted for chants of “Up the Ra”. Foot shot SF! If they keep this up and there is a new election, SF will lose their new voters. Stay smart and transparent Mary Lou and keep a lid on your brand of nationalism!
@Paul Furey: people are sick of the lack of nationalism shown by the Blueshirt/FF wallows. The Black and Tans commemoration was got stuck in a lot of people’s throats! These lowlife traitors got what they deserved! A swift kick!
What are they going to do about the national debt first and foremost? Apparently 1/3 of income tax is going towards servicing the debt interest, €60 billion over the last 10 years. The only website I can find that states a current value puts it way above 200 billion. (Nearly 50k per head in the country). Our budget surplus is at the whim of interest rates. We need to play hardball to get closer to 0% interest so we have a chance at reducing it.
@Watchful Axe: it’s actually 63% of GDP which is lower than that of the UK at 86%.
We’re in debt but not as much as you think.
If corporations paid their fair share we’d be fine but we seem to have this inferiority complex in Ireland that we have to let corporations in and pay literally no tax, some pay less than 1%.
We’ve more to offer than low tax, a highly educated workforce, last native English speaking country in the EU, huge diaspora etc. Let them pay their fair share. Maybe then we could build houses, pay our debt and prosper.
@Laughable: But not only that! We are the European helpdesk for USA FDI entering Europe without tariffs!
The Shinners would be mad to go into Government with Fianna Fail..
@Just Some Guy: The Shinners are Mad without going anywhere.
Can someone tell me how the transfer system works? How do they decide the number of points/who they’ll be given to?
@Shala: The voting system
Ireland uses an electoral system called proportional representation with a single transferable vote.
This sounds complex, but it can be broken down into simple terms.
The voter marks their ballot card in order of preference, which means writing the number 1 opposite their first choice, 2 beside their second favourite and so on.
If the candidate marked as the voters first choice is eliminated or elected without needing the vote then the vote is transferred to the second candidate.
The transfer of votes between party candidates often plays an important part in ensuring they are elected.
@Stephen Kane: Ah I see. Thanks for that Stephen. I could never understand how the surplus was divided up.
@Shala: makes for great elections!!!
What a mess, the left is split too much in this country.
What most commentators are not even mentioning is the fact that the more the Blueshirt/West Brit media went ballistic telling people that SF were not normal or whatever, with editorials screaming for people to not vote SF, the more people were going to vote SF. People are sick and tired of the likes of Stephen Collins in the Unionist Times screaming blue murder and don’t want to be dictated to by a bunch of out-of-touch Blueshirts!! Away with ya!!
‘Not looking good’ is not conceding
Four peddle and crankers!
@Pat Coyne: go to bed pash!
Yeah voters trusted Sinn Fein sol pbp for change glad of the transfers glad Sinn Fein know that a weak fine geal fianna fail is their best advantage fg ff being tough on sf for decades good Sinn Fein remembers
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