Now a FOURTH garda in corruption inquiry
Off icer questioned in Munster probe has worked with inter-county team
A GARDA who this week faced questioning in connection with an ongoing corruption investigation in the Munster region has worked with an intercounty GAA team in the past, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.
This is the second GAA connection to the investigation.
Three senior gardaí have been arrested and questioned about their alleged ties to a Munster-based crime gang. This week, a fourth was questioned in relation to the alleged corruption.
The MoS revealed last week that a group of GAA stars was recently questioned as part of an inquiry that has expanded significantly.
However, when gardaí from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation searched mobile phone evidence and other strands they came across indications that charges had not been pursued against GAA stars and others.
One of the arrested gardaí was close to GAA stars.
A group of players, coaches and administrative staff went on a luxury holiday to the Caribbean last week but a garda with links to the team did not travel because of the investigation.
The fourth garda was this week quizzed in connection with allegations of non-pursuit of alleged offences. He previously worked closely with another Munster GAA squad. The Garda Press office confirmed that a number of gardaí have been, ‘formally interviewed in relation to this ongoing investigation’. The Irish Mail on Sunday revealed last week that a group of GAA stars has been questioned in connection with an ongoing high-profile garda.
The questioning of the GAA players, all members of the same squad, was part of follow-up investigations into the alleged non-prosecution of offences.
The initial inquiry was related to collusion between gardaí and a criminal gang. However, the investigation has widened to look at communications between an arrested garda, colleagues and civilians.
There is no suggestion that any of the players were involved with criminals.
An administrator at a county board has had his phone taken by officers from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and officers from the Criminal Assets Bureau and the NBCI spoke to players last week.
When the MoS contacted a number of members of the relevant county board that oversees the players, they did not want to make substantial statements. The county chairman was also contacted.
One official initially suggested he would have to come back to this newspaper as he didn’t know anything about the matter, before adding: ‘I did know about the developments during the week, that something was going to come up anyway. As everybody did. Now, you know.’
Separately, sources on the county board said there is an effort to keep the focus of the ‘inquiry away from the players and the manager’. Gardaí believe information from the GAA administrator’s phone will show the form of communication that was made between the wellknown players and the officers.
It is not known if the accused people made personal requests that charges not be pressed or if there was a go-between. Nevertheless, if it is proven that sports stars were given preferential treatment on serious charges, there will be a major scandal. The allegations of intervention relate principally to road-traffic charges. One GAA source close to the country board said: ‘The NBCI came in and questioned six of the players and a senior administrator. It’s mostly low-level road-traffic stuff but there are other more serious things. There is talk of a public order incident involving a window being kicked in at Supermac’s by a player and a drink-driving charge being squared away for a player.’
Another source on the county board said the ‘whole county is talking about it. It might overshadow our playing achievements’. A member of the county board said, under guarantee of anonymity: ‘There are a few senior gardaí suspended from the force. It seems some of the players were getting road-traffic charges quashed. They were being questioned by CAB. What was going on was lads might be unluckily caught. They weren’t reckless drivers or anything but they were able to get on to this man and he might be able to get it kicked aside and not progressed. I don’t think it was happening wholesale – it was from time to time. It was going on all over the country. It’s just that there seems to be highprofile individuals here.
‘Still, when a few fellas were on the tear the same fella pulled strings to get them off the hook. The fact that there is a high-profile investigation into gardaí is giving this legs and giving people concern.’ The county board chairman, according to colleagues, was ‘keeping the head down’.
‘It is a very delicate situation,’ said a county board member.
There were also searches at a Garda station during the week.
The probe into links between gardaí and a crime gang is bringing a lot of people under its umbrella.
Question on alleged ties to a criminal gang Claim that charges not pursued against players