GARDA WHISTLEBLOWERS WHO attempted to raise serious concerns about wrongdoing in the force claim they were “obstructed and sidelined”, a Sinn Féin TD has said.

Pearse Doherty said that members of the force, who have given decades of service, tried to fulfil their duty by challenging wrongdoing.

An RTÉ Investigates documentary, which aired on Wednesday night, revealed that staff working in a unit set up to protect garda whistleblowers claimed that reforms in the force are being undermined by senior management.

The garda members who were connected to the Garda Protected Disclosure Unit, Donal Corcoran and Rose Sweeney, alleged they were “forced out of the” office for protecting whistleblowers.

Doherty said: “These are people who tried to raise serious concerns from inside An Garda Síochána, who have given decades of service and tried to fulfil their duty to challenge wrongdoing.

“Instead, they say they were sidelined, obstructed and penalised.

“Anyone watching the programme last night could see they were devastated. It has taken a real toll on all of them and their lives.

“Two of them worked in the Protected Disclosures Office itself, the very system established after the Maurice McCabe scandal to protect people who speak out.

“Last night, they described a system in crisis.

“We heard about a shotgun that disappeared from Garda custody and 13 years later turning up in the hands of criminals.

“We also heard the confidential protected disclosure file concerning that weapon was marked for closure without the knowledge or consent of the person responsible for managing the case.”

Doherty said there were further “shocking developments” on Thursday morning after Deputy Commissioner Paul Cleary claimed on a radio show that former commissioner Drew Harris had “intervened” in the protected disclosure process.

“That is what whistleblowers were telling the public last night as interference has now directly been acknowledged, in respect of the commissioner’s involvement, by one of the most senior officers in An Garda Síochána,” Doherty added.

Foreign affairs minister Helen McEntee said that the documentary covered a wide range of very serious matters over the past several years.

Despite being pressed about her knowledge of defective holsters, McEntee said she was precluded from speaking about the matter because of legislative protections.

McEntee added: “Many, as was referred to in the programme, related to protected disclosures and investigations which are still ongoing, to matters before the courts both criminal and civil, before the WRC and subject to investigations by Fiosrú, the office of the police ombudsman.

“The deputy knows for that reason I cannot comment. The reason I cannot comment on any of these matters is we as a House in 2014 passed legislation brought to the House by Brendan Howlin which made it very clear that the legislation would prevent any of us, under law, from commenting on or confirming the existence of or details of any specific protected disclosure.”

Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon said that the concerns raised were not trivial.

He said they included firearms and ammunition being stored in “appalling conditions”, warnings about unsafe holsters being ignored, the refusal to technically examine the holster worn by murdered Detective Garda Colm Horkan.

“Most extraordinary, the people working in the Garda office responsible for protecting whistleblowers became so disturbed by what they witnessed that they became whistleblowers themselves,” Gannon added.

McEntee said the structures within An Garda Síochána should see repercussions for wrongdoings.

“We need to make sure there are oversight structures in place,” she added.