THE FOLLOWING IS what the Garda Ombudsman describes as an “approximate transcript” of the audio recording which caused the controversy.

The Garda Ombudsman report, published this lunchtime, has said that the audio should not technically be described as a ‘tape’ as the recording was caught on a “non-removable hard-drive housed inside the camcorder device”. The remarks were not made in front of the two women protestors who were arrested by gardai, the report said.

The recording was accidentally made when the camcorder was taken from one of the women during her arrest. (This is the audio which Dublin Shell to Sea posted on its Vimeo account a year ago – it is not known if this is an uninterrupted recording of all events from the arrest onwards.)

The garda put the camcorder in his pocket and this device had been left in record mode “unknown to the garda concerned who then returned to a Garda vehicle where he joined a number of his colleagues”. The conversation during which the remarks were made happened in the Garda jeep with a sergeant and four gardai present. The report says:

The two females concerned  became aware of the alleged  conversation after the event, following their release and on reviewing the content of the camcorder that had been returned to them by gardaí.

THE TRANSCRIPT:

Sgt. A “Who is them two lassies  – do you know the two of them?”

Garda B “I don’t know the second one, the first one is (refers to  Ms. A) with blonde hair”.

Garda C “She was up on the tractor earlier on”.

Sgt. A “It’d do no harm to get the second one’s name again”.

Garda B “She’s some Yank. I don’t know who the fuck she is”.

Garda C “Is she a Yank?”

Garda B “It sounds like it, it sounds like it, the accent anyway”.

Garda D “Sounds like a Yank or Canadian”.

Garda B “Well whoever, we’ll get Immigration fucking on her”.

Sgt. A “She refused to give her name and address and told she would be arrested”.

Garda B “And deported”.

Sgt. A “And raped”.

Garda B “I wouldn’t go that far yet, she was living down at that crusty camp, fuck’s sake, you never know what you might get”.

Laughter

Sgt. A “Give me your name and address or I’ll rape you”.

Garda C “Hold it there, give me your name and address, there, I’ll Facebook you”.

Laughter

Sgt. A “Or I’ll definitely rape you”.

Garda C “Will you be me friend on Facebook?”

Rape tape controversy: Report recommends disciplinary action against one garda>

Read: The full Garda Ombudsman report on the Corrib rape ‘tape’ accusations>