Commissioner says gardaí complying with inquiry into alleged informer

GARDA COMMISSIONER Fachtna Murphy said his officers were fully co-operating with a Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) investigation into the activities of convicted drug trafficker and alleged Garda informer Kieran Boylan.

Mr Murphy said both the commission and the Garda were conducting separate investigations into the issues around the case.

When media reports emerged this week detailing how Boylan secured an international haulage licence despite being a convicted drugs trafficker, Mr Murphy said he contacted GSOC.

The commission had assured him that the circumstances around the granting of the licence last year formed part of the wider GSOC investigation into the case.

“It’s very important to remember that all the speculation and innuendo in the world doesn’t make up to facts and evidence; let’s see what GSOC make of it,” Mr Murphy said.

The Garda’s own investigation would be concluded soon. Mr Murphy rejected media reports that suggested his officers were not assisting with the GSOC inquiry.

“My policy and the policy of the force is to give the full co-operation within the legislation and protocols in place. And that has happened to the best of my knowledge . . . I wouldn’t tolerate non-cooperation.”

Mr Murphy was speaking to the media at the annual conference of the Association of Garda Superintendents (AGS) in Westmanstown, west Dublin.

Boylan, a 38-year-old from Rockfield Park, Ardee, Co Louth, has a drug conviction in England, where he was jailed for 7½ years for possession of cannabis resin in 1997. In 2003 he was caught with cocaine and heroin valued at €750,000 in Dublin Port. He pleaded guilty. He was caught with €1.7 million of cocaine and heroin in October 2005. Those charges were dropped and GSOC is investigating the reasons for this.

The agency, which is conducting a public interest inquiry, is investigating if the charge being dropped is linked to Boylan allegedly being a Garda informer. Boylan was granted an international haulage licence by the Department of Transport last summer, several months before the GSOC investigation began.

At yesterday’s superintendents’ conference Mr Murphy described as “inaccurate and incorrect” media reports suggesting 236 one-man Garda stations were about to be closed.

“I want to confirm, particularly to people in rural Ireland, that I have no plans to recommend to the Government the closure of any Garda stations right now.”

Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern told delegates he had listened to their concerns about policing management suffering if certain superintendents’ positions were not filled because of the public sector promotions freeze.

He was currently in talks with Mr Murphy about filling certain vacancies.

Mr Ahern said he had also listened to the AGS’s concerns that superintendents were devoting too much time to investigating complaints against Garda members on behalf of GSOC.

He said the AGS’s views would be taken into account when changes were being considered to the legislation that provides for GSOC.