State to review paying bill for Callinan defence
THE State is reviewing whether or not to foot the legal bill of former Garda commissioner Martin Callinan who was implicated in the damning report of the Disclosures Tribunal on corruption in the force.
The Taoiseach said yesterday the decision to offer Mr Callinan State representation had been made in July, prior to the publication of Judge Peter Charleton’s report and was now under review.
The report found Mr Callinan was part of a ‘campaign of calumny’ against Mr McCabe, aided by his press officer, now retired superintendent Dave Taylor.
His comments came after Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said ‘not one red cent’ of State money should be spent defending Mr Callinan in a case being taken by Garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe.
Mr McCabe, a former Garda sergeant who retired from the force last month after being vindicated in an investigation, has initiated a civil case against the State and his former boss.
‘It has emerged in recent days that it is in fact the State who will pay Mr Callinan’s legal fees, the State, with taxpayers’ money,’ Ms McDonald told the Dáil. ‘This is outrageous,’ she said. ‘Martin Callinan is a man who went around telling people falsely and without any foundation that Maurice McCabe was a child sex abuser who should not be trusted.’
As a former State employee, Mr Callinan is being represented by the State. Mr McCabe, who faced unfounded and false allegations of sexual assault, was praised in the report by Judge Charleton.
In an interview, which aired on RTÉ over the past two nights, Mr McCabe said if he had known at the outset the abuse he would suffer for lifting the lid on corruption in the Garda he ‘would never have done it’. He said it had changed his family life ‘completely’.
Ms McDonald said yesterday: ‘For daring to speak out and for putting his head above the parapet, Maurice was smeared and he was bullied by fellow members of An Garda Síochána.
‘He was the subject of the most despicable type of character assassination imaginable.
‘Setting out to destroy Maurice McCabe was his [Mr Callinan’s] doing and he should face the consequences of his action.’
Leo Varadkar said the fact that the State was providing legal representation to the former commissioner did not mean the State would pay for the defence or that there would be a defence.
‘I would like to see this case settled and I hope it can be settled to the satisfaction of Maurice McCabe and [his wife] Lorraine sooner rather than later,’ he said.
Mr Varadkar added that he had asked the Attorney General to examine whether Mr Callinan or Mr Taylor could be pursued for a contribution to any damages that may be paid. The Taoiseach also noted that it was open to Judge Charleton to pursue a similar process in respect of tribunal costs, ‘should he feel those witnesses, or any witnesses, did not fully cooperate with the tribunal’.
It comes as two senior security sources told the Irish Daily Mail there is ‘not much support’ across the board in An Garda Síochána for the State paying Mr Callinan’s legal fees.
However, the well-placed sources say that while Garda Commissioner Drew Harris is seeking legal advice about the matter, the ‘early indications are that the State will have no choice but to pay’.
A source said: ‘Drew Harris seeking legal advice is a clear sign that the force and the State doesn’t want to cover this cost if it can be avoided. But the legal advice is that it is highly unlikely it can be avoided.’
Mr Callinan had obtained a written agreement from Mr Harris’s predecessor Dónall Ó Cualáin to appoint State legal counsel to represent him.
Mr Harris has sought legal advice on whether he is bound by this and may ask Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan if he can scrap the agreement. ‘This is a long shot though,’ the source said.
Mr Flanagan also told the Dáil yesterday that the next step was to move towards the case being settled.
Solidarity-People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith said of the State paying any of Mr Callinan’s legal defence: ‘That is what ordinary people think is disgusting.’ Mr Callinan had branded Garda whistleblowers ‘disgusting’ at a Dáil committee long before his own downfall.
Comment –Page 14 senan.molony@dailymail.ie
‘Very unlikely State can avoid paying’