She should never have been chief, insists whistleblower
GARDA whistleblower John Wilson has told the Irish Daily Mail that Nóirín O’Sullivan should never have been made Commissioner, because of her role in the controversies surrounding the force.
In her resignation statement, she said she was leaving because she was being forced to answer too many questions about various Garda scandals.
However, former garda Mr Wilson, said politicians should have foreseen this before they appointed her.
Mr Wilson, along with fellow Cavan garda, Sergeant Maurice McCabe, lifted the lid on the penalty points scandal, sparking a wave of revelations about alleged mismanagement.
He said last night: ‘When I heard the news that Nóirín O’Sullivan was to resign, the first thought that sprang to my mind was she should never have been given the job in the first place.
‘While I would never take any joy in anyone losing their job or kicking them when they are down, I would like to say, I did highlight this three years ago, that the job should have gone to someone who has no loyalty to the gardaí. The Government had an ideal opportunity to bring in someone from the outside after Martin Callinan resigned in controversial circumstances but instead they hired someone from within the force.’
He said the culture within the gardaí is ‘rotten’ and needs to change, and that ‘whistleblowers like me are seen as people who have betrayed the gardaí’.
‘The system is rotten and there is no accountability within the gardaí but removing Nóirín O’Sulivan is a good start for future change.’
Ms O’Sullivan was appointed Commissioner in 2014 but her time there has been dominated by a series of controversies including, the finances of Templemore Garda College, the whistleblowers controversy and the grossly inflated breath tests.
But Mr Wilson said the Government is to blame. He said: ‘They went through this process of advertising Martin Callinan’s position, but they never intended to appoint anyone but Nóirín O’Sullivan. At the time, I publicly called for the appointment of an outsider, and it didn’t happen and now look where we are.
‘Having her in place means it was the same tune being played by a different orchestra. She was part of the problems within the gardaí, but it is unfair for her to carry the can for everything.
‘An Garda Síochána have operated as a state within a state, it is all purely political, neither Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael have wanted to take full responsibility for the gardaí. Now we are left with the consequences of those previous mistakes.’ Mr Wilson said he now fears that real reform is unlikely.
He said: ‘Kathleen O’Toole is in charge of leading the Commissioning on the future of Policing in Ireland, but questions have to be asked about what her role was in the appointment of Nóirín O’Sulivan’. He said: ‘Gardaí inspectors already produced a road map for proper reform but the Government failed to do anything. We need an independent non-Garda-related group to take part in the appointment of a new commissioner. The only people the gardaí should be loyal to is the people of Ireland.’
‘The system is rotten’