Politics

Martin Callinan PAC appearance was key step in final downfall

Ex-Garda commissioner description of Maurice McCabe and John Wilson’s actions as ‘disgusting’ became political dividing line

Sgt Maurice McCabe: his whistleblowing activity was described by Martin Callinan as “disgusting”. Photograph: Cyril Byrne
Sgt Maurice McCabe: his whistleblowing activity was described by Martin Callinan as “disgusting”. Photograph: Cyril Byrne
Fiach Kelly
Fri Sept 26 2014 - 01:00

Perhaps there is an element of the penalty points horse having well bolted by the time the Public Accounts Committee completes its final report into the affair, but the PAC's role in the overall justice controversies, which convulsed the Government and the force earlier this year, should not be forgotten.

Members of the PAC are often derided for show-boating displays and victimising some witnesses who appear before it, and this is entirely justifiable in some cases. It can often overreach itself and it strays well beyond its remit at times.

However, its hearings into the penalty points affairs rank among its finest moments in a year which has seen the committee take centre stage within the Oireachtas.

In particular, the appearance of former Garda commissioner Martin Callinan before it inadvertently helped bring to a head the many criticisms of the force and pushed the attitude of senior officers away from the political fringes of the Independent benches to the centre of Government.

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Mr Callinan's description of the actions of Maurice McCabe and John Wilson as "disgusting" became a political dividing line, with then minister for transport Leo Varadkar, and later the Labour Party, saying it should be withdrawn.

In its draft report, the PAC says “the commissioner described the actions of the two whistleblowers as disgusting and put a huge degree of emphasis on the need to maintain discipline within the force.

“It appears that the desire to protect the organisation was placed ahead of ensuring that the complaints from the whistleblower were followed up on and that the Garda Commissioner lost control of the process once the issue appeared in the public domain.”

Numerous reports

The criticism that maintaining discipline within the force took precedence over the complaints from the whistleblowers is, after numerous reports and statements in recent months, hardly new. It has been made on umpteen occasions and is likely to be repeated again.

And while Callinan, according to Government claims, ultimately retired after the secretary general of the Department of Justice was sent to his home to discuss the Garda taping controversy, his appearance before the PAC contributed to his premature fall.