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TAOISEACH ENDA KENNY has confirmed the Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald has recently received correspondence from a member of the gardaí under whistleblower legislation.
The confirmation comes after a report in The Irish Examiner today by Mick Clifford which stated a report was made under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014 alleging that garda management orchestrated a campaign to undermine and attack the character of a whistleblower.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny told the Dáil today that he was aware of today’s newspaper report about attempts to undermine the whistleblowers “through encouraging officers to attack his character, creating an intelligence file on him, monitoring his activities on the PULSE system, making false allegations about his character and briefing elements of the media and selected politicians in a similar vein”.
Protected disclosure
He confirmed Fitzgerald had received the report and is examining the contents.
Let me confirm for the House that the Tánaiste has recently received correspondence from members of the Garda Síochána under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, which is now being considered.
The Tánaiste will consider now how best to proceed in relation to these protected disclosures and take whatever action may be deemed appropriate.
Kenny said that Minister Fitzgerald also referred the matter to the independent Policing Authority.
“It will make its views known,” said the Taoiseach.
He added that he has not seen the correspondence or the report, but said:
“… it may well be there are matters here beyond what would be a normal GSOC analysis or investigation.”
Undermining the whistleblower
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said he was very concerned about reports that whistleblowers were being “strategically undermined and under attack, both their personal and professional reputations at the instigation of senior garda management”.
Disclosures have now been made to that effect by a senior officer of the force, that essentially, this campaign involved dissemination of texts across a range of gardaí; the opening of an intelligence file on the whistleblowers; undermining the whistleblowers in relation to their character.
In essence, it was a character assassination attack… this was organised and that people who engaged in it were engaging in it under instruction.
Martin said the matter “demands a fairly dramatic response from government”.
Kenny was also keen to highlight the importance of confidentiality in relation to protected disclosures.
While Martin agreed with the Taoiseach he said the activity “goes beyond that and cuts to the very heart of how a police force should be operating”.
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The can in this case has already had a good kicking. Over 2 years. Why is the Tanaiste and Minister for Justice only taking an interest now. What has the Garda Commissioner been up to? This stinks to high heaven.
Organising the campaign?
@Christy Nolan: None of this comes as the slightest surprise to me. It was an attempted character assassination.
The French call it “detournemount du pouvoir” , abuse of power.
The state and it’s agents do not like their authority challenged and take measure against those who do. The people of Jobstown, one a boy understand this perfectly.
@Get Lost Eircodes:
What was the initial complaint to warrent a cover up of this magnetude?
The poor guarda whistleblower must be out of his wits, never mind his and his families health and good name.
Its a disgrace. How many more Justice Ministers and Guarda Commissioners need to “retire” before something genuine is done to cleanup the ssordid mess.
Read about it today in the paper. Shocking stuff and this is to one of their own.
Two senior gardaí have made statements under whistleblower legislation alleging that senior garda management conducted a major campaign to “destroy” a whistleblower within the force.
The “protected disclosures” of the two officers reference a campaign that included spreading false, scandalous, and damaging allegations against the whistleblower in question.
The purpose of the campaign was to completely discredit the whistleblower to the extent of destroying his character.
One of the two officers making the disclosure is admitting his role in the campaign to discredit the whistleblower, but claims he was following orders
The disclosures were made to the Department of Justice within the last week and will raise fresh questions about the treatment of whistleblowers within the force.
In particular, the seniority of the officers making the claims and the fact that one of them is admitting his own culpability will give rise to fresh concerns as to how those who come forward are dealt with.
The disclosures detail a number of different strands to the campaign, which was conducted over a number of years.
These include:
Generating hundreds of text messages which were disseminated among a large group of officers with the instructions to attack the whistleblower’s character;
The creation of an intelligence file on the whistleblower;
The deployment of an officer to monitor the activity of the whistleblower on Pulse, the Garda computer system;
The briefing of elements of the media about the whistleblower, laying emphasis on entirely false allegations about the whistleblower’s character;
The briefing of selected politicians in a similar vein.
The HSE does this to its whistle blowers and informants all the time…discredit them and bury them in baseless but serious allegations of child abuse etc so their original complaint gets lost in the mists of time…or they suffer such ill health that they drop it…..or the HSE culprits have time to get promoted outta dodge…no one in power gives a fu#k…its standard operating policy.
@Peter fechter: check out any court house in Ireland, they got form as they say
@Peter fechter: absolutely disgraceful and downright disgusting that if this is true have done this to gardai within the force. If this is what’s going on within an Garda siochana on their own gardai. What are they doing outside of the gardai. What cover-up and scandalous stuff is going on.
The “secret” here is to “use” the procedures in place in most large state organisations such as “protective leave” which is meant to be just that – protection, but..when a scurrilous but potentially serious allegation is made by a collegue, client etc against the whistle blower then he/she can face the following 5-10 years on “protective leave”…on full pay with all allowances!!! I personally know of one such case where the HSE threw everything inc the DPP at an employee who informed on a female director who abused a teenage girl….the employee spent 8 years on “protective leave” before returning to redeployment…the paedo director got promoted!!! I would be surprised if the Gardai are very different.
@LITTLEONE: What are they doing outside of the gardai. What cover-up and scandalous stuff is going on
don’t forget the gardai have it within their power to trump up any charge they want, approach your employer, tap your phone, knock on you previous addresses, relatives addresses en masse, stand in court and tell a tissue of lies that not even a judge would believe if they so wish
frightening stuff but a reality
imagine that happened because you complained to gsoc about an assault?
@LITTLEONE: a carefully orchestrated plan of character assassination. Challenge oppressive authority and gloves are off.
@Micheal OLainn: untouchables.
@ciaran: actually not only true but witty as well!
@ciaran:
Verdicts are reached in the Special Criminal Court on the evidence of Senior Guardai. It makes you wonder. As a relative of a Garda Sergeant I could tell you some stories. The rank and file are not too happy and it’s not only about their pay.
The Gardai need a NEW Commisoner to kick arses, the present one is part of the old guard!
We need one from OUTSIDE the force!
now how will ff/fg kick this can down the road?
bets taken on a peoples forum to be set up in the next year or two chaired by some retired not sacked commissioner!
Sweep it under the carpet as per usual, whatever happened to Endas contract to the Irish people?
@Paul Mc: driving all day and it stopped being aired on the news just after the 9 am news rte1 and newstalk, laughed at paul Williams, he completely brushed over it preferring to talk about the need to pay the garda ’08 benchmarking levels of pay
http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/senior-gardai-tried-to-destroy-source-424048.html
@ciaran: Paul Williams is a joke, how anyone could expect him to be taken seriously is beyond me.
Is this the professional police force that Jason Bourne, says we don’t deserve? Daisy Chainsaw any comments? A Garda having his character assassinated for upholding the law by Senior corrupt members of AGS haha rotten to core time for a clean out of the deadwood.
@Martin Ryan: if only there could be a clean out. The buck will land nowhere.
” people who engaged in it were engaging in it under instruction.” so who was instructing?????
The absolute top – as a former social worker Francis could smell these shenannigans a mile off….as i posted earlier..this is SOP in the HSE..where do social workers begin their working lives?
She’s going to refer it to the ‘independant’ Garda authority..??
What a joke
The commissioner stated this would not continue,the public recommend the commissioner does not continue.
What a wonderful little cesspool of corruption Ireland is. Always was, and always will be, as long as the status quo is allowed remain.
Senior Garda Will Take Early Retirement, Get A Big Lump Sum And Big Pension And Return In A Consultant Position.. in Clare We Are Still Waiting 30 years For The Nugent Family For Justice In Bunratty..
Noting to do with the former Commissioner or current Commissioner, of course.
Give them a pay rise…er…restoration…
Nothing whatsoever will happen to any senior garda hands off even theGSOC are pissing in the wind in this state
This is scandalous sounding stuff. If it’s true I would not dare to defend it in any way. However I just want to point out that it is unfair to state the force is *corrupt from top to bottom * as one poster stated. I have never seen anything of this nature in all my years in the force nor never have been directed to do anything the least bit dodgy. If I had been I would have been one of those whistleblowers. In my experience the vast vast majority of Gardai believe in their oath and try their best to do their best. Not doubting the truth of the article just sharing my own experience.
Mick…couldnt agree more..the ordinary copper/sergeant is salt of the earth…they have no interest in making life any harder than it has to be for ordinary honest decent respectful folk….thats been my experience….
@Mick Murphy: we should neither generalise from the particular nor particularise from the general.
All occupations have individuals of varying qualities and varying standards.
That said, some institutions, especially unaccountable institutions, can become corrupt, dysfunctional and riddled with malfeasance.
Members of An Garda Siochana are representative of the general community, some fine and decent, some less so.
We should neither demonise nor lionise An Garda Siochana.
@Mick Murphy: Too little too late Mick, the bad apples have resulted in a barrel of rotten apples because they were left there.
Mickey Clifford is a good one alright.
Who said that PULSE doesn’t work.
Examiners Max Clifford doing doing well with INM. But wonder is he uncovering or simply unwrapping.
Would prefer to see the pay restoration settle at 10% and use the remainder to take on additional garda,I’m in agreement they get paid relatively poorly for the dangers they face etc but we hear that it’s resources also that has morale at such a low so why not kill 2 birds with one stone. Entry level pay is poor so best eat to get government to react is for lack of demand to join the force,but let’s be honest anyone know early twenties would be happy to go in on the salary on offer otherwise the demand would not be there.
Posted on wrong feed!!doh!
It appears that Mick Clifford does not have any time for Guards, has anybody noticed that over the lady few years? .
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