TÁNAISTE AND MINISTER for Justice Francis Fitzgerald has compared calls to remove Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan from office to Donald Trump’s recent sacking of the FBI’s director.
“This is extremely disturbing in a democracy. It’s like what happened in Washington last week,” she said.
She was referring to President Trump’s controversial decision to remove James Comey from his position amid an FBI investigation into Russian ties to the 2016 election and the Trump administration.
Recent news reports suggest that a memo was written by Comey that said Trump had asked him in private not to investigate former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
According to reports of the memo, Trump said: “He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.”
Speaking to the media today, she said that it was proper procedure in a democracy to follow procedure and investigate before taking action.
“The idea that somebody would not be subject to fair procedures, to the rule of law… They don’t seem to know the law in relation to this issue.
There’s very clear procedures laid down, there’s a question of natural justice there’s a question of constitutional rights.
If this was being said about any other person there would be outrage about it.
The comments come as Sinn Féin, Labour and Fianna Fáil call for the garda commissioner to resign after a series of controversies within An Garda Síochána.
Among the controversies were the way garda whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe’s allegations were handled, a mix up with documenting the number of breath tests carried out, and financial irregularities at the garda training college in Templemore.
According to a poll carried out by Amárach Research for Claire Byrne Live, 62% of people want O’Sullivan gone, while 19% want her to keep her job and 19% are unsure.
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