Politics

Guerin should apologise and explain his actions, Alan Shatter says

Shatter does not understand why Guerin went outside terms of reference

Mr Shatter also expressed his disappointment with how he had been treated by then taoiseach Enda Kenny: ‘I expected better from him’. File photograph: Cyril Byrne

Vivienne Clarke
Thu May 30 2019 - 12:19

Former minister for justice Alan Shatter has said he still does not understand why Government commissioned barrister Seán Guerin went outside his terms of reference in his report into allegations of Garda misconduct by Sgt Maurice McCabe.

The Guerin report had said that Mr Shatter did not heed concerns raised by Garda whistleblower Sergeant McCabe.

However, the subsequent O’Higgins Commission found Mr Shatter had treated Sgt McCabe’s concerns “very seriously”.

“To this day I don’t understand why he went outside his terms of reference,” Mr Shatter told RTÉ radio’s Today with Sean O’Rourke show.

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“It is beyond time for an apology, first he needs to explain himself.”

Mr Shatter said that Mr Guerin had been given the responsibility to conduct a preliminary inquiry, but had gone beyond that with no explanation.

“This is an issue that needs to be addressed. Nobody has dealt with this particular issue.

"I want to move on, there is a need for an explanation from Sean Guerin about how he came to that conclusion. Why did he go outside his remit? Why didn't he engage with me?"

‘Extraordinarily stressful’

Mr Shatter also expressed his disappointment with how he had been treated by then taoiseach Enda Kenny. “I expected better from him. He ignored my concerns, there was no due process.”

He said that at times following the publication of the Guerin Report he felt he was “living in an alternate universe. I was constantly vilified in the media until the O’Higgins report came out.”

The level of vitriol and anti-semitic comment had astonished him. “You start doubting anyone is going to believe you. It was an extraordinarily stressful period.

“I had hoped that when the O’Higgins report came out that Sean Guerin would acknowledge that he made mistakes, but there were three more years of this.

“It doesn’t matter how resilient or thick skinned a creature you are, this all created a great deal of pressure.”

When asked about the controversy surrounding Fine Gael TD Maria Bailey this week, Mr Shatter said there were serious questions about the legal advice she received.

“She may have made a bad judgement, we don’t publicly stone people here. I didn’t think it necessary for every member of the Cabinet to excoriate her.

“There are far more important issues than that at a time when the defence forces are in crisis, yet this issue has dominated the air waves for eight days.”

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