Garda Commissioner was ‘not aware’ of Callinan car park meeting

Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan was “not aware” of a meeting between her predecessor Martin Callinan and Fianna Fáil TD John McGuinness, in which it is alleged Mr Callinan said whistleblower Sgt Maurice McCabe was not to be trusted.

Mr McGuinness, a former chair of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), claimed in the Dáil last week that Mr Callinan asked to meet him in a Dublin car park in January 2014.

This was around the same time that the PAC was investigating the controversies over the penalty points system. Mr Callinan also at the time called the actions of whistleblowers “disgusting”.

Ms O’Sullivan has faced calls to say whether she knew about this meeting. In a statement on Monday, a spokesman for An Garda Síochána said she did not know.

“Commissioner O’Sullivan was not aware of any private meeting between former Commissioner Callinan and Deputy McGuinness as outlined by Deputy McGuinness in the Dáil.

“In relation to whistleblowers, Commissioner O’Sullivan has consistently stated that dissent is not disloyalty, and as a service we are determined to learn from our experiences. An Garda Síochána agrees that whistleblowers are part of the solution to the problems facing the service.

Protected Disclosures Manager

“The Commissioner has recently appointed a Protected Disclosures Manager and an appropriately trained dedicated team will be established to oversee all matters related to whistleblowers.

“Transparency Ireland has agreed to work with An Garda Síochána to help ensure protected disclosures and people making them are welcomed and protected in An Garda Síochána.”

Earlier, Mr McGuinness defended his decision not to reveal until last week his claim that he had the secret meeting with Mr Callinan in a car park prior to Sgt McCabe’s evidence to the Committee.

“I believe my action has been vindicated, I made it possible for people like Maurice McCabe and others to come forward with the protection of the Public Accounts Committee.

Mr McGuinness said he allowed the O’Higgins Commission process to go through “believing that Maurice McCabe would be exonerated”.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Sean O’Rourke on Monday he said: “This whole debate is a nonsense. The use of unnamed sources is just another attempt to undermine, not just me, but others involved. It would be far better if they put their names to their statements and stood over what they’re saying.

“That culture needs to be broken.”

Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald, who was a member of the committee, said she was not aware of the meeting in a car park, nor the content of what was said to Mr McGuinness at the time.

She told RTÉ Radio on Monday that the nature of the information Mr McGuinness had should have been brought to the O’Higgins commission.

The committee was considering inviting Sgt McCabe before it to give his evidence. That move was opposed by Mr Callinan, and it is now alleged that part of that opposition led to the then Garda commissioner requesting a meeting with Mr McGuinness, who has now set out his account of the meeting.

“The [former] Garda commissioner [Martin Callinan] confided in me in a car park on the Naas Road that Garda McCabe was not to be trusted and there were serious issues about him,” he told the Dáil on Thursday in remarks that were not reported until the weekend.

“The vile stories that circulated about Garda McCabe, which were promoted by senior officers in the Garda, were absolutely appalling,” he said.

Mr McGuinness was speaking during the debate on the O’Higgins commission of investigation, which investigated Sgt McCabe’s allegations of Garda wrongdoing in the Cavan-Monaghan division and other matters.

He continued in the Dáil: “Every effort was made by those within the Garda Síochána at senior level to discredit Garda Maurice McCabe.

“Because they attempted to discredit him, he had to bring forward various pieces of strong evidence to protect his integrity.

“During the course of that time, we have to recognise that the political establishment was of absolutely no help to him.

“Every effort was made to ensure he would not appear before the Committee of Public Accounts.

“Every effort was made to dampen down the strong evidence he put into the public domain, which he had to do to protect himself, to inform us about what was going on with penalty points and other issues.”

Mr McGuinness told the Dáil on Thursday that the meeting in the Bewley’s Hotel car park at the Naas Road, Dublin, took place after Mr Callinan contacted him and asked to meet but did not state in advance the purpose of the meeting, in January 2014.