‘Callinan told me not to trust McCabe’ – TD
FINE Gael TD John Deasy said Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan told him Sgt Maurice McCabe was ‘someone who could not be believed or trusted’.
The Waterford TD told the Disclosures Tribunal in Dublin Castle yesterday that the comment was made in the Oireachtas coffee dock, just before Mr Callinan gave evidence to the Public Accounts Committee in January 2014.
He said: ‘I could not believe it and it took my breath away.’
He was questioned about his claim on Prime Time in February last year, when he said: ‘I was approached by a senior guard and he proceeded to make some very derogatory comments about Maurice McCabe, the nature of which were that Mr McCabe couldn’t be believed and couldn’t be trusted... It was, you know, a serious attack and very strongly worded.’
He confirmed to tribunal counsel Diarmaid McGuinness, SC, that he had been talking about Mr Callinan. He added: ‘I think they lost the narrative by the time they came into the PAC that Thursday, they had lost control of events. And I think they knew it.
‘I think it was a last gasp to prevent him [McCabe] from challenging their authority directly. I think they lost control of their behaviour by addressing members like me before the PAC.’
Mr Callinan denies making the claim and has said he discussed issues concerning penalty points. He said he warned Mr Deasy that there were ‘inaccuracies’ in some of the allegations.
Mr Deasy told the tribunal: ‘I think it is common knowledge that guards at a senior level did not want the whistleblowers appearing in public.’ It also emerged yesterday that Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has told a tribunal solicitor that he was aware of ‘innuendo and rumour’ concerning Sgt Maurice McCabe.
Mr Varadkar wrote: ‘I did not believe them and in any case they did not take away from the evidence-based case he was making in relation to penalty points.’
In a subsequent letter, Mr Varadkar clarified: ‘With regard to the innuendo and rumours, I was informed of these by Noel Brett, then CEO of the Road Safety Authority, which fell under my remit as minister for transport.
‘I don’t recall the exact detail of the rumours, but I do recall they related to his character and motivation, that he was untrustworthy and had other grievances unrelated to road safety.’
Ex-Labour Party minister Pat Rabbitte told the solicitor for the tribunal that in 2014, a garda friend of his said he should be aware of ‘what was being said on the grapevine’ about Sgt McCabe. ‘I took it that he was referring to the Garda grapevine, and the matter he wanted to warn me about was that there were rumours of alleged child abuse’.
The Taoiseach’s letters were read to the tribunal by Darren Lehane, counsel for Deputy John McGuinness, during his crossexamination of his client. He said they showed the extent of the rumours in Leinster House. helen.bruce@dailymail.ie
‘They lost control of their behaviour’