O’Sullivan told Justice about strategy in 2015
THE then Garda commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan told a senior official at the Department of Justice about the legal strategy to undermine Sergeant Maurice McCabe in 2015, it emerged yesterday.
Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald yesterday claimed she had never been made aware of this.
A trawl of documents relating to the McCabe email scandal has uncovered evidence of a phone call from Ms O’Sullivan to an unnamed official in the Department, which took place ‘at the time’ Sgt McCabe was being cross-examined at the O’Higgins Commission.
This is the same period in which the Tánaiste, who was the Minister for Justice at the time, received the email informing her of the strategy. She has claimed she cannot remember reading this.
Yesterday, a spokesperson for Ms Fitzgerald said she was not aware of the phone call, which was reported by RTÉ’s This Week. The Justice Department confirmed to the programme that the contact had taken place, but said there was no written record of the phone call and that it could not comment further due to the upcoming Charleton Tribunal.
Appearing on the programme immediately after this revelation was made, Labour TD Alan Kelly said serious questions had been raised about who knew about the strategy in the Department of Justice.
He added: ‘We also know that there has been a protected disclosure made by a senior person in An Garda Síochána, and in it, he claims there was a strategy to go after Maurice in April, a full month before May 15.
‘How long was this strategy being prepared, and what was the relationship and knowledge with the Department of Justice? How can it be squared away that Department of Justice senior officials were aware of this strategy while at the same time the Minister and the Government and everybody was going out and lauding Maurice McCabe?’
Outgoing Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams also raised questions about the revelation, and said the Tánaiste’s position was untenable.
He asked: ‘What is the name of the official the former commissioner spoke to? Presumably, it was a very senior person.
‘Why was the Garda Commissioner ringing officials at the Department of Justice to discuss legal strategy at all, never mind at the time of Sgt McCabe’s cross-examination?
‘Why is there no written record of the call? Was Tánaiste Fitzgerald alerted to the fact that the call had taken place? Was she informed of the substance of the call?’
This is the first time there has been any indication that the Garda Commissioner personally informed the Department of Justice about the strategy against Sgt McCabe.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar repeatedly insisted this week that the Tánaiste had no ‘hand, act or part’ in any such strategy.
Tánaiste was ‘unaware’ of call