TEACHER'S COMPLAINT:A NORTH Mayo school principal who was the subject of alleged derogatory remarks of a sexual nature made by a garda in 2006 has said she believes Taoiseach Enda Kenny should now intervene and "show leadership" on the Corrib gas dispute.
Bríd Ní Sheighin, principal of Scoil Náisiúnta Cheathrú Thaidgh (Carrowteigue), said she was on maternity leave and had given birth to her first child just four weeks before the alleged remarks were made about her to her husband.
“I found it very distressing, given that I didn’t go to the protests and I didn’t know this garda,” she said.
The remarks allegedly made by a garda to her husband John Monaghan, on October 13th, 2006, were recorded by him during an early morning protest at the Shell Ballinaboy gas terminal site.
Both protesters and gardaí carried video cameras during the early morning “walk-in” demonstrations, which were heavily policed.
Mr Monaghan, spokesman for the community group Pobal Chill Chomáin, which opposed the Corrib gas pipeline routes on health and safety grounds, said there was provocation between both sides, which he had engaged in.
“It was a very stressful time, Shell had just started work on the project,” he said. “But the gardaí should be trained to respond in a professional way, instead of which people were both physically and verbally abused.”
Mr Monaghan attempted to lodge a complaint with the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission about the incident after the body was established in May 2007.
However, he was informed the incident was outside the six-month time remit of the ombudsman, and could not be investigated.
The Garda had no comment to make about the complaint yesterday, and the ombudsman said it would not be revisiting it.
The ombudsman said it could not respond to a call made by Mr Monaghan yesterday for another attempt at reviewing policing policies and practices associated with the Corrib gas development.
The ombudsman asked then minister for justice Brian Lenihan unsuccessfully in 2007 for leave to carry out such a review, due to the high volume of complaints it was receiving from north Mayo.
The FrontLine and Table human rights organisations, with the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, have said the request should be revisited.
Ms Ní Sheighin said six incidents had been reported by her husband to the ombudsman after it opened in May 2007, two of which were deemed admissible.
One of these related to alleged “drive-by” incidents in 2006-2007, where Garda vehicles stopped or hovered outside the gates of houses.
