No gardaí made claims on McCabe, says editor

A FORMER Irish Independent security editor has said no member of the Garda “past or present” told him about sexual assault allegations against whistleblower Maurice McCabe.

Tom Brady said while he checked this out with senior gardaí and found out there was no prosecution against Sgt McCabe, the initial rumour did not come from any Garda source.

“I can rule out any member of An Garda Síochána past or present,” he added.

He also denied telling another journalist outside a Dáil committee meeting that Sgt McCabe was under investigation.

Mr Brady was giving evidence at the disclosures tribunal, which is investigating an alleged smear campaign by senior gardaí against Sgt McCabe.

While Sgt McCabe was investigated over an allegation made by a woman known as Ms D, the DPP decided in 2007 there should be no charges and what was described in the complaint did not amount to a crime.

Prof Colum Kenny had given evidence he approached two journalists at a committee meeting in the Dáil on February 19, 2014, as he was interested in sounding out the views of security correspondents in relation to a Sgt McCabe and an issue involving the disappearance of a computer.

He had said they responded by asking “did I not know” that Sgt McCabe was under investigation for alleged child abuse.

Mr Kenny had said the two journalists were Mr Brady and RTÉ’s Paul Reynolds.

Mr Brady told Kathleen Leader, for the tribunal, he was not at that committee meeting – and on the day in question he had been working on a murder case.

“The conversation never took place,” Mr Brady said. “I don’t remember having any conversation with him outside any meeting of a Dáil committee.”

He did not think he was ever in Mr Kenny’s company with Mr Reynolds.

Mr Brady told Michael McDowell SC, for Supt Taylor, he had been aware journalist Paul Williams was working on “some story” in 2014 but he had no involvement in that.