BOTH SIDES USE TRIBUNAL STATEMENT TO BOLSTER ARGUMENTS

BOTH sides in the row that’s brought the country to the brink of an election have used the Disclosures Tribunal’s plans to examine issues at the heart of the dispute to bolster their argument over whether or not Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald should resign.

The tribunal’s chairman, Mr Justice Peter Charleton, issued a statement last Friday that both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail view as significant in the ongoing row.

He confirmed that hearings of the tribunal — focused on issues related to the O’Higgins Commission — will begin on January 8.

This includes contacts been An Garda Siochana and the Government, the media and other entities. The O’Higgins Commission examined allegations made by whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe about Garda failings in the Cavan/Monaghan region. The controversy engulfing Fitzgerald is centred on opposition claims she should have acted on a 2015 email outlining a clash between the legal teams for then-Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan and McCabe’s representatives at the O’Higgins Commission. The email has been sent to the tribunal.

Ms Fitzgerald says she can’t remember reading it and insists she wouldn’t have been able to act regardless as the email made it clear she couldn’t intervene. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar — who is insisting Fitzgerald acted properly and there’s no reason for her to resign — said the tribunal’s statement was “very important”, that the hearings aren’t far away, and the tribunal should be allowed do its work.

Speaking on RTE Radio, Fianna Fail TD Jim O’Callaghan maintained the Tanaiste needs to go. He said if she is later vindicated by the tribunal he’d be the first to “stand up and say, ‘OK, we were wrong, we shouldn’t have criticised her’.”