Vigils to support Garda and all

whistleblowers to be held this evening

Saturday, February 18, 2017
Vigils in support of whistleblowers will take place around the
country this evening.

Gatherings will be held at a number of Garda stations at 6pm in

support of Maurice McCabe and other Garda whistleblowers.

They are been organised by campaign group Uplift.

"These vigils are our way of standing in solidarity with Maurice

McCabe's family and all other guards who want to speak out about
wrongdoing and be protected," said spokesperson Siobhan O
Donoghue.

"We believe the guards do a very important public service, we need

whistleblowers to be protected and we need the senior Garda
management to be accountable."
http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/vigils-to-
support-whistleblowers-to-be-held-this-evening-777694.html
A breakdown of the Charleton
Tribunal
Friday, February 17, 2017

The Charleton Tribunal will explore the OHiggins commission, the

role of Tusla, and the alleged campaign of smearing Maurice
McCabes good name, writes Michael Clifford.

The Charleton Tribunal is to establish the nature of communications

between top-level garda, politicians and the media regarding Sgt
Maurice McCabe.

There are three distinct threads to the inquiry into the smearing of
Sergeant Maurice McCabe.
At least one of them will present major issues for the garda
commissioner. If she is still in the job when evidence is heard about
the attack on McCabe behind the closed doors of the OHiggins
commission, Nirn OSullivan will come under serious pressure.
The terms of reference for the Charleton Tribunal reflected the
public reaction to what has emerged in recent days about McCabes
plight. The news that he was subjected to false reports of child
sexual abuse, including the opening of files on four of his children,
has appalled the general public.
Last Monday, Maurice and Lorraine McCabe issued a statement
asking for a public inquiry. Thats what we now have, and its terms of
reference are wide enough to address the McCabes main concerns.
Whether the tribunal will actually deliver justice is a moot point. For
that to happen, it would have to be in a position to establish all the
facts that it sets out to explore, and come to firm conclusions. Such
an outcome is far from guaranteed.
The three threads that it will explore about the smearing of McCabe
include the stuff at the OHiggins commission, the creating of the file
of false allegations of abuse in Tusla and its dissemination, and the
alleged general campaign of smearing his good name.
The OHiggins element should be straightforward. Behind the closed
doors of the commission, the lawyer acting for the garda
commissioner stated that it was his instructions to attack McCabes
motivation in bringing complaints of malpractice.
When McCabe produced a tape recording of the meeting, that plank
of attack ran into the sand. It shouldnt take Charleton long to
discover what exactly happened, who was involved, and what exactly
the commissioner knew about the matter.
Nirn OSullivan has said she knew nothing of an attempt to attack
McCabe, and she wouldnt have anything to do with any such effort.
The evidence on the matter will be fascinating.
The Tusla issue is also straightforward. Three witnesses will be
crucial in examining whether there was a conspiracy to stain McCabe
with the most grievous crime against a child. There is the woman
whom, according to the file that was created, made an allegation of
abuse against McCabe.
There is the counsellor who created the file. And there is a third
party with whom the counsellor was in direct contact, believed to be
a garda. The evidence of all three, combined with the records in
Tusla should be able to establish the facts pretty rapidly.
The third strand could present a few problems. This centres to a
large extent around the allegations of superintendent David Taylor
that when he was head of the garda press office he had been
instructed to blacken McCabes name in the media.
Much of the evidence here will involve telephonic or electronic
records. Most of the records will be the property of An Garda
Sochana. Whether or not all records are still available will be a key
issue for the tribunal.
Also crucial will be the evidence of politicians and whether they
were briefed in a manner designed to damage Mr McCabe. Of
particular interest will be the evidence of former minister for justice
Alan Shatter.
The former chairman of the Public Accounts Committee John
McGuinness has stated that he was briefed by then commissioner
Martin Callinan that Mr McCabe was not to be trusted. Mr
McGuinness put the briefing in the context of the vile stories that
were circulating about McCabe at the time.
If it emerges that Mr Callinan was briefing members of the Cabinet,
the repercussions would be enormous. Any suggestion that the garda
commissioner was briefing ministers would deal a fatal blow to any
trust that still remains between the police force and the elected
government.
The other element that Mr Justice Charleton will be examining is the
treatment of Garda Keith Harrison, another whistleblower, and in
particular, his issues around the opening of a Tusla file on him.
Predictions were still being bandied about yesterday that this could
all be done and dusted in nine months. Such talk brings optimism to
a new level altogether.
The full terms of reference:
A
To investigate the allegation made in a protected disclosure under
the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, on the of September 30, 2016,
by Superintendent David Taylor, wherein he alleges that he was
instructed or directed by former Commissioner Martin Callinan
and/or Deputy Commissioner Nirn OSullivan, to contact the media
to brief them negatively against Sergeant Maurice McCabe and in
particular to brief the media that Sergeant McCabe was motivated by
malice and revenge, that he was to encourage the media to write
negatively about Sergeant McCabe, to the effect that his complaints
had no substance, that the garda had fully investigated his
complaints and found no substance to his allegations and that he
was driven by agendas.
The terms of reference for the Charleton Tribunal reflected the
public reaction to what has emerged in recent days about McCabes
plight.

B
To investigate the allegation of Superintendent Taylor in his
protected disclosure, that he was directed to draw journalists
attention to an allegation of criminal misconduct made against
Sergeant McCabe and that this was the root cause of his agenda,
namely revenge against the garda.
C
To investigate what knowledge former Commissioner Callinan
and/or Commissioner OSullivan and/or other senior members of the
Garda Sochna had concerning this allegation of criminal
misconduct made against Sergeant McCabe and whether they acted
upon same in a manner intended to discredit Sergeant McCabe.
D
To investigate the creation, distribution and use by Tusla of a file
containing false allegations of sexual abuse against Sergeant
Maurice McCabe that was allegedly sent to garda in 2013, and
whether these false allegations and/or the file were knowingly used
by senior members of An Garda Sochna to discredit Sergeant
McCabe.
E
To investigate whether the false allegations of sexual abuse or any
other unjustified grounds were inappropriately relied upon by
Commissioner OSullivan to discredit Sergeant Maurice McCabe at
the commission of investigation into certain matters in the
Cavan/Monaghan district under the chairmanship of Mr Justice Kevin
OHiggins.
F
To investigate whether senior members of An Garda Sochna
attempted to entrap or falsely accuse Sergeant McCabe of criminal
misconduct. G To investigate such knowledge which former
Commissioner Callinan and Commissioner OSullivan had concerning
the matters set out in [A], [B], [C], [D], [E] and [F] above.
H
To investigate contacts between members of An Garda Sochna and:
Media and broadcasting personnel, members of the Government,
Tusla, Health Service Executive, any other State entities, or any
relevant person as the sole member may deem necessary to carry out
his work relevant to the matters set out in [A], [B], [C], [D], [E] and [f]
above.
I
To examine all records relating to the telecommunications
interactions used by Superintendent Taylor, former Commissioner
Callinan and Commissioner OSullivan, in the period from the July 1,
2012 to May 31, 2014 to ascertain whether there are any records of
text messages or other telecommunication interactions relating to
the matters set out at [A], [B], [C], [D], [E] and [F] above and to
examine and consider the content of any such text messages or
other telecommunication interactions.
J
To examine all electronic and paper files, relating to Sergeant
Maurice McCabe held by An Garda Sochna and to consider any
material therein relevant to [A], [B], [C], [D], [E] and [F] above.
K
To investigate whether Commissioner OSullivan, using briefing
material prepared in Garda Headquarters, influenced or attempted to
influence broadcasts on RT on the 9th of May 2016, purporting to
be a leaked account of the unpublished OHiggins Commission
Report, in which Sergeant McCabe was branded a liar and
irresponsible.
Former minister for justice Alan Shatter said at the time of the
penalty points scandal: Whereas I absolutely accept it was perfectly
right for him to raise issue of major public concern but, insofar as he
made allegations for which there was no evidence and were
unfounded, he wrought havoc in the lives of a number of people.

L
To investigate whether a meeting took place between former
Commissioner Callinan and Deputy John McGuinness on January 24,
2014, in the carpark of Bewleys Hotel, Newlands Cross, Co Dublin
and to examine and consider the circumstances which led to any
such meeting, the purpose of any such meeting and matters
discussed at any such meeting.
M
To investigate such knowledge which Commissioner OSullivan had
of the meeting referred to in [L] above.
N
To investigate contacts between members of An Garda Sochna and
Tusla in relation to Gda Keith Harrison.
O
To investigate any pattern of the creation, distribution and use by
Tusla of files containing allegations of criminal misconduct against
members of An Garda Sochna who had made allegations of
wrongdoing within An Garda Sochna and of the use of these files,
knowingly by senior members of the Garda Sochna, to discredit
members who had made such allegations.
P
To consider any other complaints by a member of the Garda
Sochna who has made a protected disclosure prior to February 16,
2017, alleging wrong-doing within the Garda Sochna where,
following the making of the protected disclosure, the garda making
the said protected disclosure was targeted or discredited with the
knowledge or acquiescence of senior members of the Garda
Sochna.
And to adopt a modular approach to this inquiry so that the matters
set out at (A) (O) inclusive shall be inquired into in the first
instance, and thereafter upon consultation with the Sole Member the
Government shall, if requested by the Sole Member, take steps to
appoint another judge to continue and conclude the work of the
tribunal namely the matter at (P) above as the second module.
Tnaiste Frances Fitzgerald, Health Minister Simon Harris, and
Education Minister Richard Bruton are all still understood to be in
the mix to run for leader of Fine Gael.
It is understood that Mr Harris is still considering his own options
and may put his name forward as a third candidate in the race.
However, the Wicklow TD, who has been a loyal supporter of Ms
Fitzgerald, would be unlikely to put his name forward if it meant
campaigning against the Tnaiste.
Ms Fitzgerald has long hinted at her ambition to lead the party.
However, she has been significantly damaged this week through her
handling of the McCabe case.
It is understood that Ms Fitzgerald is still considering her options but
is also very conscious of the fact that there is, as yet, no vacancy and
Enda Kenny has to be given the chance to announce the timing of
when he will leave.
Party sources have also claimed that Fine Gael stalwart Richard
Bruton cannot be ruled out of putting his name forward, but he has
so far remained silent.
While Simon Coveney and Leo Varadkar are seen as the two
frontrunners to succeed as leader of Fine Gael, those loyal to Mr
Kenny may decide to put forward a candidate.
A senior Fine Gael source said: There is the Enda Kenny wing of the
party and they might go to Frances [Fitzgerald], they might go to
Simon [Harris] or to Paschal [Donohoe] if they are to run. This will be
a big change whenever it happens, it has been 15 years since there
was last a change of leader.
So a lot of people are still unsure and are weighing up their
options.
The source added: What was clear this week is an election can
happen at any time, Enda Kenny has said he wont be leading the
party into another election, so the issue of leadership has to be
addressed.
Meanwhile, Minister of state for the Diaspora, Joe McHugh, echoed
calls to give the Taoiseach space to make his mind up on his future.
He told RT RnaG: The right thing to do is to give Enda Kenny space
and time to make his decision. Its Endas decision.
Asked if there is a danger of an early election he said: Things have
changed in the last week and an election is nearer than it was before
last week.
Enda is very intelligent and he has been all over the country since
2002 when he came into the job first. He has done an excellent job
for the party, said Mr McHugh.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/viewpoints/analysis/a-
breakdown-of-the-charleton-tribunal-443136.html
End of the line for Enda Kenny
Few would have predicted that the Taoiseach Enda Kenny would be
the author of his own demise, writes Political Reporter Elaine
Loughlin.

Its the little things that trip you up. If Enda Kenny could magically
go back in time, he might have paid more attention to those words
uttered by former Fianna Fil leader Albert Reynolds after being
forced to quit as Taoiseach in 1994.
But there is no room for hindsight in Leinster House, and so a week
of he said, she said and back to what he really might have said, has
all-but ended Enda Kennys four decades in the Dil.
The 32nd Dil, conceived after difficult and laborious negotiations,
was never going to be easy going.
When the minority Government cobbled together with Fine Gael
and a motley crew of Independents and held up by Fianna Fil
was formed nine months ago, speculation mounted over whether it
would be the Eighth Amendment, water charges, or perhaps even bin
charges that might inflict the final blow on Mr Kenny.
No one guessed that it would be Mr Kenny himself who would
accidentally expedite his own demise.
Sunday, February 12
Mr Kenny we can only guess had no idea what the following
days would hold for him as he beamed at what appeared to be a
light-touch interview on radio last Sunday.
Along with Brexit-themed questions he was asked of course, of when
he first spoke to Childrens Minister Katherine Zappone about her
meeting with Sergeant Maurice McCabe and his wife, and the false
allegations of child sex abuse leveled against Mr McCabe in the
Tusla report. In his typical folksy story- telling way, Mr Kenny
recounted a conversation he had with Ms Zappone.
Emm, well Minister Zappone is doing a very good job, he began,
hands clasped. She did tell me that she intended to meet with Sgt
McCabe in a private capacity.
This comment already set journalist fingers tapping frantically for a
clarification from his spokesman. What exactly did the Taoiseach
mean by private capacity?
It was a picking point for a few hours on Sunday.
The response was that Ms Zappone met the McCabes confidentially
on Tusla-related sensitive issues and that was what was meant by
the private capacity comment.
The Taoiseach continued with what would be the self-inflicted and
likely fatal blow.
I said to her, well if you do have a meeting make sure that you have
a thorough account of it.
And so when we had our meeting on Tuesday, I would not have
been aware of any of the details of the discussion.
Case closed, or so it was thought.
But just as Mr Kenny was unknowing putting his foot in it, so too was
his second-in-command, Tnaiste Frances Fitzgerald.
She claimed that she knew nothing of the Tusla file containing false
child sex abuse allegations against Sgt McCabe until it was revealed
by Irish Examiner journalist Michael Clifford on Thursday afternoon
and later that evening on RTs Prime Time.
Monday, February 13
Little did the Taoiseach realise that there was a juggernaut heading
his way, in the form of a transatlantic flight bringing the Childrens
Minister back to Ireland.
An emotional and clearly rattled Katherine Zappone shifted from
foot to foot as she came out to brief a swell of journalists on her
version of events.
She explained her meeting with Sgt McCabe and his wife Lorraine
and admitted she was deeply conscious that the State had almost
destroyed their family.
All I can say was that I didnt sleep at all that night. How could
you? the ashen-faced minister said.
But after telling of the extraordinary and vile allegations she went
on to detail the sequence of contact with Mr Kenny which would
trigger a political crisis within Government and Fine Gael.
She claimed she had not spoken to Mr Kenny before her meeting
with the McCabes on January 25.
Instead, she said she spoke with the Taoiseach after the meeting to
let him know that I had met with the McCabes, that we had
discussed Tusla. I didnt go into the detail of any of the allegations
that I was aware of but I did indicate that that was the nature of the
conversation.
The starkly contradictory account floated in the air.
If Ms Zappones account was accurate it meant that the leader of the
country had concocted a detailed tale of speaking with the first-time
minister and TD.
While it seemed he was able to remember a meeting which never
actually happened, he failed to recollect a conversation he had just
days previously, during which a bombshell had been dropped.
Ms Zappone may not have divulged all the disgusting details of what
she had learned during her meeting with the McCabes, but neither
did the Taoiseach ask.
The two apparently then went in to Cabinet to approve a commission
of investigation into allegations of an orchestrated smear campaign
against Sgt McCabe.
When clarification was sought from the Taoiseachs spokesman,
little was given. As the Taoiseach has said previously, he was not
aware of the details or of the very serious and disturbing issues that
arose at the meeting.
As Minister Zappone confirmed today, she did not divulge any of the
details of these very serious issues to the Taoiseach or to anyone
else in Government. That was absolutely the correct course of
action.
And so with TDs still back in their constituencies, both stories
continued to float side by side.
But while stories of two-pint men and soldiers at the ATMs were
previously laughed off, this tall tale just couldnt be brushed aside.
In a separate war of words, Fianna Fils justice spokesman Jim
OCallaghan said he was 100% certain he had told Ms Fitzgerald of
the Tusla file on Wednesday February 8, the day before the scandal
was aired publicly.
The pair met in the members bar of Leinster House, where Mr
OCallaghan said he told her there was an issue around a Tusla file
that was going to be broadcast on RTs Prime Time on the
Thursday.
He added that he expressed concern that the terms of reference for
the commission of inquiry agreed upon by Cabinet the day before
were not sufficiently broad in light of the Tusla revelations.
We then had a discussion for about seven or eight minutes about
paragraph B of the terms of reference. And the point I was making to
her was that the terms of reference in paragraph B was limited to
communications between Supt [Dave] Taylor and the broadcasting
media.
I said it needed to be broader than that. My thinking was that it
would cover Tusla and other things we do not know.
Mr OCallaghan added: I spoke to the Tnaiste. I felt we were doing
the Government and the Tnaiste a favour.
He indicated that there could have been no confusion on the part of
Ms Fitzgerald as he had mentioned Tusla three or four times in
their conversation.
The commission of investigation appeared to be in tatters as a
lengthy statement released by the McCabe family rejected any
private inquiry and called for a full-scale public tribunal.
Tuesday, February 14
There was a nervous tension around Leinster House as politicians
and officials gathered in hushed huddles, trying to predict the
unpredictable. A storm was brewing but its ferocity was yet
unknown.
There was talk that Fianna Fil would demand a head. Depending on
who you spoke to, it could be the Taoiseach, Tnaiste, Childrens
Minister or the Garda Commissioner Nirn OSullivan that would
have to face the gallows.
The realisation that a tribunal would not be required was dawning.
Tellingly, Mr Kenny met with Fianna Fil leader Michel Martin
before Cabinet on Tuesday morning. As one backbench TD put it, Mr
Kenny would have to get the approval of Fianna Fil on anything
that was agreed by ministers at Cabinet, so it was a better use of
time to obtain it in advance.
After a longer than usual Cabinet meeting which prevented Chief
Whip Regina Doherty from attending a Business Committee meeting
to decide the business of the Dil the establishment of a tribunal
was approved and Mr Kenny entered the bear-pit of the Dil
chamber.
It was then that the statement of guilt came.
Mr Kenny said: I might say mea culpa, because I am guilty here of
not giving accurate information.
I understood from thinking myself that [Ms Zappone] had asked me
about meeting Sgt McCabe in the first place.
It actually was her office that consulted with my officials, who told
me.
She is very clear that she did not tell me that she intended to meet
Sgt McCabe, but she did tell her official to tell my office, so I regret
that.
So followed pointed exchanges, heckling, and calls for the Taoiseach
to stand down as the questions continued over his inconsistencies
surrounding the McCabe scandal.
But the calamity only got worse when hours later Mr Kenny was
again forced to change his story.
During an evening debate to try to get to the bottom of what may
have happened, Ms Zappones statement again contradicted Mr
Kennys version of events.
As the drip-feed of information continued , the Taoiseach admitted
he was told the Zappone-McCabe meeting involved sex abuse
allegations, but not the exact details:
Before the Cabinet meeting the minister, Deputy Zappone, said she
had met with the McCabes and that the question of false allegations
of sexual abuse had been made to Tusla and had been discussed by
her with the McCabes.
Outside the chamber, there was a mad scramble from the
Independent Alliance, who up until then had remained largely silent
on the McCabe case.
A press conference was organised before being postponed,
rescheduled, and eventually cancelled, as no one quite knew what
would come next in the fast-paced saga.
A visibly vexed Shane Ross was seen ushering his Alliance
colleagues through Leinster House and it was rumoured that the five
TDs might pull the plug on Government altogether.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny pictured attending an All-Island civic dialogue

on Brexit at Dublin Castle.

Wednesday, February 15
After three hours of statements and questioning on Tuesday evening,
Mr Kenny must have been dragging himself back into the chamber
for more on Wednesday.
Reading carefully from notes, Mr Kenny repeated that he had not
been told details of the allegations, but went on to claim that he was
satisfied that the claims would be covered by the terms of reference,
as the terms included an allowance for examination of potential
criminal activity.
Clearly, we were looking at the terms of reference; we had
examined the terms of reference and they were produced and
presented by Mr Justice ONeill. Central to that was an allegation of
criminal misconduct made against Sgt McCabe.
Obviously, the discussion between the minister [Katherine Zappone]
and Sgt McCabe dealt with that area. The minister did not make me
aware of the existence of a Tusla file and did not comment in any
detail on the conversation she had with Sgt McCabe.
Despite being asked repeatedly, at no stage did Mr Kenny say when
he was first made aware of the false sex abuse rumours against Sgt
McCabe. He said he didnt deal in rumour.
A debate on a motion of confidence in the Government began at
6.45pm.
But even as Opposition TD after Opposition TD stood up to attack his
party, Mr Kenny appeared to remain defiant.
When a senior Fianna Fil member, who has been in politics almost
as long as Mr Kenny, sent him a text on Wednesday evening, he
received a confident response from the Taoiseach.
We have been around here before. Always better leaders over the
hill, Mr Kenny wrote back as the chamber echoed with bellows and
shouts.
In another show of strength, Mr Kenny strolled into the Dil
members bar flanked by a number of his confidants, in a clear
statement that he was going nowhere.
After narrowly winning the motion of confidence in the Government
in a late-night vote, Mr Kenny was joined by a number of party
colleagues, including Finance Minister Michael Noonan and Health
Minister Simon Harris.
Follow

RT News

@rtenews
Dil passes motion of confidence in the Government -
@EdelMcAllister reports
11:16 PM - 15 Feb 2017
6 6 Retweets9 9 likes

However, it is understood that when Noel Rock who was the first
to call for clarification on when the Taoiseach will step aside
joined the gathering he was said to be given a cold shoulder by Mr
Kenny.
One source, who was in the bar at the time, said Mr Kenny didnt
flinch when the Dublin North West TD approached the group, and
instead iced him out.
It is understood that after some minutes Mr Kenny left the bar and
was followed by Mr Rock, who was again ignored by the Taoiseach.
The Independent Alliance broke their silence and announced they
had cut a deal to set up a new probe into the garda which would be
headed by an international expert.
Thursday, February 16
The Government vote of confidence may have passed, but the
jockeying for support for the leadership battle had already begun
around Leinster House.
On Thursday, lists were being drawn up, putting Simon Coveney and
Leo Varadkar on between 25 and 30 votes each out of a total of 71
parliamentary ballots.
No one was talking about if Mr Kenny might step down, but when.

Follow

Morning Ireland

@morningireland
Martin Heydon, Fine Gael Parliamentary Party Chairman,
says they never discussed the leadership at last night's
meeting
8:49 AM - 16 Feb 2017
2 2 Retweets1 1 like

When Mr Kenny appeared before an Oireachtas committee, Fianna

Fils John McGuinness wished him well.
Privately, Mr Kenny admitted to colleagues to being disappointed
in himself and acknowledged that he would not be able to stay on as
Taoiseach for as long as he intended.
But at an event in Dublins north inner city, Mr Kenny came out
fighting. I am focusing entirely on a really busy and challenging
time ahead and we have got lots of work for all of our party to
engage themselves in, ministerial portfolios, and programmes for
Government to implement thats what we will be about, he told
reporters.
Despite a call from Fine Gael TD Pat Deering to make his intentions
known on when he will stand down, or possibly face a vote of no
confidence at the parliamentary party meeting next week, Mr Kenny
maintained that it had been an ordinary working day.

Follow

RT News

@rtenews
Pat Deering says he expects the Taoiseach to indicate a
timeline for his departure as FG leader at a parliamentary
party meeting next week
6:42 PM - 16 Feb 2017
4 4 Retweets6 6 likes

He said: Politics is a vocation, it draws you into stormy waters as

well as calm.
Today for me was a very ordinary working day; we had a Cabinet
meeting at 7.30am where we approved and signed off on the terms
of reference for the public inquiry into the allegations of a sustained
smear campaign against Sgt Maurice McCabe.
Tomorrow is another ordinary working day, Mr Kenny said.

Follow

RT News

@rtenews
Paschal Donohoe told RT's @MorningIreland he will not
be running for the leadership of Fine Gael if Enda Kenny
stands down.
9:44 AM - 17 Feb 2017
3 3 Retweets5 5 likes

Friday, February 17
There is a different light when you cross the Shannon.
Mr Kenny a man of the people is going back to his own people
for the weekend. And just as Mr Kenny has remained a staunch
supporter of the men who line out in the Green and Red, the people
of Mayo have stood firm behind him.
There were utterances that Mr Kenny, buoyed up by supporters in
Castlebar, might think he could ride out the storm.
But while he was flanked and protected by his confidants during
previous attacks, including the attempted heave by Richard Bruton,
today Mr Kenny is much more of a lone figure. Phil Hogan has been
transported to Brussels, while James Reilly now sits in the Seanad.
Ministers yesterday formed a queue to call for calm, with Mr Coveney
saying Mr Kenny should be given time to decide when he will step
down. But step down he must.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/viewpoints/analysis/end-of-
the-line-for-enda-kenny-443233.html
Nirn O'Sullivan's boys in yellow are doing great work as you
can see from this photo taken on Merchant's Quay in Dublin 8
this morning. The two garda have stopped two White-Collar
crime suspects and are getting them to empty their pockets
on to the pavement. These two look like bankers because they
are very well dressed, so they will be on huge salaries - OK,
not on 900,000 like Bank of Ireland's Richie Boucher, but
certainly on huge money, probably around 193 per week. The
suspected White-Collar criminal on the left even had one of
the old style Nokia phones so is obviously a very wealthy
individual while the man on the right had a rucksack, so
obviously he was heading off to Mount Juliet for the weekend
to play golf with his bondholder pals (from Oliver Bond?).
So there you are folks, you can sleep easy in your beds tonight
because two White-Collar crims have been apprehended.
Expect a statement from Justice Minister Frances Fitz
thanking the Commissioner and the garda and expect the two
Paul's - Williams and Reynolds to have all the juicy bits
plastered over Denis O'Brien Media and RT - as supplied to
them by "reliable sources".

On a serious note - what powers do the garda have to stop

and search? Are you obliged to give your name and address?
Are they entitled to examine your phone/papers in your
possession?


Holy God, what are they feeding Michael D in Cuba? He's after
growing 9 inches! (or else the Cuban's are not very tall
Tribunal will probe
McCabe case and other
whistleblowers
Supreme Court judge to provide
interim report to the Tnaiste in three
months

Cormac McQuinn Twitter

PUBLISHED
17/02/2017
1
Probe: Supreme Court judge Peter Charleton. Photo: Gareth
Chaney Collins
The tribunal established to investigate the
alleged smear campaign against Sergeant
Maurice McCabe can be extended to
examine the complaints of other garda
whistleblowers.

The terms of reference of the Tribunal of Inquiry, to be
chaired by Supreme Court judge Peter Charleton, was
passed through both Houses of the Oireachtas last night.
Mr Justice Charleton will report on an interim basis to
Tnaiste and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald within
three months.
Speaking in the Dil, Ms Fitzgerald vowed the tribunal
"will ensure justice for Sergeant McCabe, his family and all
parties involved".
The investigation will initially focus on allegations of an
orchestrated campaign by senior garda to smear Sgt
McCabe. The claim was made in a protected disclosure by
Superintendent David Taylor, a former Garda press
officer, last year. The tribunal will also investigate Tusla,
the child and family agency, over its file containing false
sex abuse allegations against Sgt McCabe.
Allegations of contacts between garda and: the media;
government members; Tusla; the HSE; and any other
State agencies will be probed.
The tribunal will also look into alleged contacts between
garda and Tusla in relation to another Garda
whistleblower, Keith Harrison.
Mr Harrison, who is on extended sick leave from the force,
claims to be the victim of a five-year intimidation
campaign after arresting a fellow officer for drink driving
in 2009. He claims he and his girlfriend have been the
subject of Garda surveillance and referral to Tusla over
false allegations of "emotional abuse".
"Any pattern of the creation, distribution and use by Tusla
of files containing allegations of criminal misconduct"
against Garda members making claims of wrongdoing
within the force will be investigated.
Mr Justice Charleton's probe will also consider if such files
were knowingly used by senior Garda members to
"discredit" whistleblowers. The cases of Sgt McCabe and
Garda Harrison will form the initial work of the tribunal.
In a statement released by his solicitors, Garda Harrison
said: "After a long and difficult battle to have all my
complaints investigated I would like to acknowledge the
publication today of the expanded terms of reference of
the Tribunal of Inquiry that finally includes an
investigation of the ill treatment of my family and I.
"I trust the inquiry will establish the truth and bring about
a change within senior management of An Garda
Sochna.
"It remains my wish to return to active duty serving my
community as a member of An Garda Sochna."
Truth
Any other complaints made by whistleblowers claiming to
have been targeted with the knowledge or acquiescence of
senior officers will be examined in a second module by
another judge, if Mr Justice Charleton requests it.
Ms Fitzgerald told the Dil: "I look forward to the
recommendations Mr Justice Charleton will make. I look
forward to the truth."
Fianna Fil's Jim O'Callaghan said he believed the terms
of reference of the tribunal were "very appropriate" but
warned there was a need to ensure costs did not run
"inordinately high".
He said Garda Commissioner Nirn O'Sullivan did not
need to step aside from her job during the tribunal, adding
she had denied any wrongdoing.
Mr O'Callaghan said he believed Mr Justice Charleton's
report would ultimately be of benefit to Irish society.
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/tribunal-will-probe-mccabe-
case-and-other-whistleblowers-35458661.html

Garda investigating Michael Noonans
handling of Grace abuse case
Monday, August 01, 2016
Garda are investigating Michael Noonans handing of the Grace
case when he was Minister for Health after receiving a complaint.

Barrister Garry OHalloran made the complaint to garda as far back

as February and received confirmation in recent weeks that a
comprehensive investigation is now under way.
Mr OHalloran, who is a former Fine Gael councillor and also a former
chairman of the South Eastern Health Board, had claimed Mr Noonan
did not take adequate action after being made aware of sex abuse
allegations involving a child while he was health minister in the
1990s. Mr OHalloran claimed he resigned from the party after Mr
Noonan had done a runner in 1997 from a meeting to discuss his
concerns around the allegations of abuse.
A series of reports in the Irish Examiner earlier this year have led to
the establishment of a Commission of Investigation into the foster
home at which a young intellectually disabled woman, referred to as
Grace, was allegedly sexually abused.
An official reply to Mr OHalloran from a senior garda commits to
fully investigate his complaints: I wish to reassure you with regard
to your concerns regarding the conduct of Mr Michael Noonan TD,
Minister for Health in the 1994-1997 Coalition Government and in
relation to the conduct of former and present staff members within
the South Eastern Health Board, the Health Service Executive and
Tusla that these matters will be fully investigated.
It is the intention of the investigation team to encompass all the
aspects of this case in the course of what is proposed to be a
comprehensive investigation, the letter dated June 2, 2016 states.
In February, Mr Noonan confirmed he was made aware of the Grace
case around 1996 and the matter was passed on to his junior
minister Austin Currie.
We were told that the young woman in question, or young child in
question, had been removed from the foster home, he said. Some
weeks later, it transpired that the South Eastern Health Board
officials, who had made the decision, had reversed the decision for
some reason.
He also contested the account given by Mr OHalloran stating: I
cant be responsible for third-parties who make allegations about me
which I refute.
A spokesman for Mr Noonan yesterday said: He has nothing to add
to what he has already put on the record.
A garda spokesman said they do not comment on named individuals.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/gardai-investigating-michael-noonans-
handling-of-grace-abuse-case-413409.html
Micheal Martin 'in
possession of documents
that allege murders,
abductions not properly
investigated'
PUBLISHED
19/02/2014

1
Michael Martin
MICHEAL Martin has claimed that he is in
possession of documents that allege a series
of murders, abductions and serious assaults
that were not properly investigated.
The Fianna Fil leader said he has sent the documentation
containing the allegations to Taoiseach Enda Kenny.
At a press conference today, Mr Martin said the
allegations are so serious that an independent
investigation is now required.
He said he has today examined documents relating to ten
cases which involve "abduction, assault and ultimately
murder".
The documents were provided to him by a garda
whistleblower, Mr Martin claimed this afternoon.
"I have sent material to the Taoiseach in relation to other
issues the whistleblower has raised, pertaining to issues
outside of the penalty points dossier, which relate to the
failure to fulfil basic functions in terms of a range of cases,
very very serious cases, - involving abduction, assault and
ultimately murder - which leaves huge questions for
response," he told reporters.
Mr Martin said Mr Kenny must not simply refer the
documentation to the Department of Justice.
"I'd say to the Taoiseach that they're not something that
should just be referred back to Justice again,because we've
been around that circle far too often now with absolutely
no clarity emanating or any real fundamental response
taking place. I think we're heading towards an
independent investigation into all of this that has to be at
arms length from the minister of justice and the
department of justice."
Mr Martin said he held a meeting in Portlaoise last week
with garda whistleblower Sgt Maurice McCabe. He said
Justice Minister Alan Shatter must correct the Dail record
and acknowledge that Sgt McCabe attempted to cooperate
with an investigation into penalty points controversy.
Mr Martin said he does not believe Mr Shatter's position is
tenable, but stopped short of calling on him to resign.
A spokesperson for Mr Shatter said no response will be
made at this particular time.
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/micheal-martin-
in-possession-of-documents-that-allege-murders-
abductions-not-properly-investigated-30024499.html

PENAL CODE CHAPTER 08-01 PENAL CODE ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS ...

Traffic in obscene publications ... Disabling in order to commit offence
http://www.vertic.org/media/National%20Legislation/Botswana/BW_Penal_Co
de.pdf
SECTION 8 GARDA SOCHNA ACT 2005 -
dppireland.ie
SECTION 8 GARDA SOCHNA ACT 2005 . ... Any offence under
section 112 of the Road Traffic Act, ... Any offence under the
Criminal Damage Act
http://www.dppireland.ie/filestore/documents/Section_8_-_Direction_2.pdf
An Garda Sochna
Road Traffic Laws 12 Public Order Laws 14 ... Offence a minor illegal
act, ... An Garda Sochna is an Irish phrase meaning Guardians of
the Peace
http://www.garda.ie/Documents/User/racial%20and%20intercultural%20engl
ish.pdf
EU committing the road-safety-related traffic offence in order to keep the person
... Ireland and the United Kingdom ...
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32015L0413&from=EN
Data Protection (Fees) Regulations 2007
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2007/si/658/made/en/pdf


















Eddie Molloy: Deep-
rooted dark forces in
Garda are intent on
obstructing reform
Eddie Molloy
PUBLISHED
20/02/2017 | 02:30
SHARE

1
Former garda and whistleblower John Wilson leaving Leinster
House. Photo: Tom Burke
When Maurice McCabe and John Wilson
began to blow the whistle on the rampant
scrubbing of penalty points and more
serious failings in An Garda Sochna, a
flood of people came forward with claims of
misbehaviour ranging from bullying to
failures to properly investigate murders. A
few of these cases were aired in the media
with complainants telling of their frustration
in securing a fair response from the Garda.
Such was the volume of cases, estimated at the time at
around 200, the Department of Justice set up a panel of
five barristers to examine these complaints and identify
those that seemed to merit further investigation. This
process was initiated in early 2014 but since then there has
been no public report on the work of the panel. How many
cases merited further investigation? On what basis were
complaints deemed to be vexatious or otherwise unworthy
of further investigations? Was there any pattern to the
complaints?
I am aware of the details of one of these 200 complaints. I
listened for six hours to a civil servant who, at junior rank
15 years earlier, had the courage and integrity to refuse to
collude in covering up what she saw as failures of the
Department of Justice, An Garda Sochna and another
agency to investigate matters of the most serious kind.
Because of this brave woman's steadfast refusal to
withdraw her allegations, her career was destroyed and
her personal life greatly affected by the treatment meted
out to her by senior officials in the department and by
senior garda.
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/eddie-
molloy-deeprooted-dark-forces-in-garda-are-intent-on-
obstructing-reform-35464445.html
Callinan postponed
murdered detective event
to pass slurs to TD, says
McCabe

Philip Ryan Twitter

EMAIL
PUBLISHED
20/02/2017 | 02:30
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3
Sgt Maurice McCabe claims Martin Callinan (pictured) delayed a
press conference on the murder of Det Gda Adrian Donohoe in
2014. Photo: Caroline Quinn
Sgt Maurice McCabe claims former Garda
commissioner Martin Callinan delayed a
press conference about murdered detective
Adrian Donohoe so he could make
accusations about the whistleblower to a TD.
Sgt McCabe claims former head of the Garda press office,
Supt David Taylor, told him Mr Callinan asked him to
postpone an event in Louth to mark the first anniversary
of the murder so he could travel to Dublin to meet Fianna
Fil TD John McGuinness.
Mr McGuinness, who was then the chair of the Public
Accounts Committee, said the former commissioner made
"vile" allegations against the whistleblower when they met
in the car park at Bewley's Hotel on the Naas Road,
Dublin, on January 24, 2014.
The previous year, Mr Donohoe was savagely murdered by
criminals as he tried to stop a gang holding up a credit
union in Dundalk, Co Louth.
Speaking in the Dil last year, Mr McGuinness said: "The
Garda commissioner confided in me in a car park on the
Naas Road that Gda McCabe was not to be trusted and
there were serious issues about him."
In a protected disclosure sent to Justice Minister Frances
Fitzgerald, the whistleblower claims Supt Taylor told him
the commissioner got a call from the TD on the day of the
murdered garda's press conference.

Sgt. Maurice McCabe. Photo: Tom Burke

"When commissioner Callinan finished the call he asked
Superintendent Dave Taylor to postpone the press
conference for an hour-and-a-half," Sgt McCabe said.
The former commissioner then drove to Dublin where he
met Mr McGuinness and returned to Dundalk to do the
press conference, he added.

Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe. Photo: Ciara Wilkinson

The alleged secret meeting between former Garda
commissioner Callinan and Mr McGuinness will be probed
by the judge-led commission.
Mr McGuinness said he met Mr Callinan at the Garda
chief's request three years ago in a hotel car park off the
Naas Road.
The serving Garda Commissioner Nirn O'Sullivan has
since claimed through her spokesman that she was not
aware of the meeting between the two men.
Judge Peter Charleton will examine whether such a
meeting took place and the circumstances around it.
He will also try to establish what was discussed at the
meeting.
But in a further development last week, Waterford TD
John Deasy revealed that he was approached by a senior
member of An Garda Sochna in early 2014 - just days
before Sgt McCabe was due to appear in front of the PAC.
The senior officer is alleged to have made derogatory
comments about the whistleblower in his conversation
with Mr Deasy.
The Fine Gael deputy claimed he approached Taoiseach
Enda Kenny and told him that he believed Sgt McCabe
would be vindicated in his opinion.
Mr Deasy, who was a PAC member at the time, followed
up the conversation with a formal letter a few weeks later.
He did not specifically mention the remarks made by the
garda in his correspondence with the Taoiseach.
Mr Deasy is the first Fine Gael politician to confirm that
he saw evidence of a smear campaign against Sgt McCabe.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/callinan-postponed-murdered-
detective-event-to-pass-slurs-to-td-says-mccabe-35464519.html

More than 20 miscarriage of justice cases that allege wrongdoing or
failures by Garda are to be pursued in the courts.
Among the high profile local cases being taken on by Belfast-based KRW
Law are the deaths of Shane Tuohey and Jim Goonan.
Twenty-three year old Mr. Tuohey from Rahan, Co. Offaly disappeared
after a night out in Clara on February 2nd, 2002 before his body was
recovered seven days later from the River Brosna.
His family believe he was assaulted and that the circumstances
surrounding his death were not investigated properly.
Fifty-one year old Jim Goonan was found at the foot of the stairs in his
home at Crinkle, Birr on March 11th, 2002.
His brother Cyril Goonan claims that he died a very violent death and is
rejecting the conclusion that it was not suspicious.
Kevin Winters of KRW says they have been inundated with calls after
taking on the Tuohey case late last year.
http://www.midlands103.com/news-centre/miscarriage-justice-cases-taken-
gardai/?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=socia
lnetwork

PETITION MINISTER FOR

JUSTICE AND APRIL RALLY
ON BEHALF OF
JOBSTOWNNOTGUILTY
February 20, 2017
by JobstownNotGuilty
TO: FRANCES FITZGERALD TD - MINISTER FOR
JUSTICE AND EQUALITYPROTESTING IS NOT A
CRIME - DROP THE CHARGES AGAINST
#JOBSTOWNNOTGUILTY

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

A 17 year old school student has already been found guilty of false
imprisonment a verdict a barrister described as a recipe for
totalitarianism.
This related to an anti water charges protest in Jobstown, Tallaght
in Dublin on 15 November 2014, where then Tnaiste Joan
Burtons car was delayed for 2 and hours by a spontaneous
community protest.
The 18 adults now awaiting trial from April 2017 face sentences up
to life imprisonment. The trials, which will be six to eight weeks
long, themselves will place enormous stress and strain on the
defendants. If jailed, families would be left in very difficult
situations, with jobs lost and parents in prison. If TD Paul Murphy
is jailed for more than six months, he will be removed as a TD,
denying the democratic choice of the people of Dublin South West.
The political establishment and the supportive media are
desperate to tarnish the anti water charges movement as a violent,
anti-democratic mob. By grossly misrepresenting and using what
happened in Jobstown they want to weaken our democratic rights
and so make it easier to impose economic inequality.
The laws used to directly seize the Property Tax from wages or
benefits as well the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public
Interest (FEMPI) legislation used to rob the wages of pubic
servants, show that this attack is real. The dirty smear campaign
against Maurice McCabe by the Gardai tops, shows the lengths
this rotten establishment are willing to go to shut down descent
and opposition to the status quo.
The definition of false imprisonment is being changed and this
affects everyone. Any temporary delay or obstruction at a protest
or picket, which for example inconveniences a politician, could be
deemed false imprisonment. This is about intimidating people and
criminalising protest.

Communique Dec 03 - Garda.ie

ORLA MCPARTLIN joined An Garda Sochna in 1983. She spent
fourteen .... especially important in these last days of the run up to the
Irish. Presidency
http://www.garda.ie/Documents/User/communiquedec2003.pdf
Jobstown protesters launch public campaign ahead
of trials
20/02/2017
Former MEP Patricia McKenna joined with trade unionists and
defendants in the upcoming Jobstown 'false imprisonment'
trials to launch a public campaign in the run up to the April
trials.
In October a 17-year-old boy was found guilty of falsely
imprisoning Joan Burton and her adviser in November 2014.

He was aged 15 when he blocked them from leaving a

graduation ceremony in Jobstown in Dublin - by standing in
front of two Garda vehicles.
Anti-Austerity Alliance TD Paul Murphy and six others are set
to stand trial on April 24, with further trials to follow in June
and April 2018.
In a statement at today's launch at Buswell's hotel, the group
said: The spontaneous protest against the then Tanaiste
Joan Burton in Jobstown on 15 November 2014 was seized
upon by establishment politicians and the Gardai to try to
strike back against the anti-water charges movement.
Today we are launching a campaign of public information. It
will challenge the false narrative that has been put forward
about Jobstown and the protest, where many in the political
world and in the media have found us guilty before the trial
even begins.
Convictions are being pursued because the establishment
resented that a new mass movement had cut across their
attempts to impose water charges. It is an attempt to send a
chilling message to all those who would wish to protest in
future.
The group plan to hold a public rally on April 1 at Liberty Hall,
where Paddy Hill of the Birmingham Six will speak.
"As someone who is an expert in what being falsely
imprisoned is I can say this was not false imprisonment, Mr
Hill said. This was a community exerting its democratic right
to oppose an unjust policy. A right that we should all be proud
to defend."
http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/jobstown-protesters-launch-public-
campaign-ahead-of-trials-778049.html

The damage they have done to individual children, women and
men is unfathomable to many who didn't experience their
cruelty
Sinn Fein celebrates
terrorists who open fire
on police officers
Gerry Adams has no right to rail
against the mistreatment of decent
gardai doing their jobs
PUBLISHED
19/02/2017

1
Outspoken: TD Richard Boyd Barrett Photo: Gareth Chaney
Collins
There can be few stranger sights in Irish
politics than Sinn Fein pretending to defend
and respect An Garda Siochana.
This is a party whose attitude to the force is probably best
summed up by the attendance last week of its new
Northern leader, Michelle O'Neill, at a vigil to
commemorate four IRA members who opened fire on a
police station with a heavy machine gun.
The men, who came from O'Neill's home village of Clonoe,
Co Tyrone, all died when the SAS had the audacity to
shoot back. Now suddenly SF is the best friends of the
boys in blue, just because it wants to score a hit on the
Government in its hour of chaos over the Maurice McCabe
affair.
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/comment/sinn-fein-celebrates-terrorists-
who-open-fire-on-police-officers-35462942.html

A fake Garda is now

scamming people in
the West of Ireland
Be careful out there.
By Grace Treston - February 17, 2017

A con-man has been targeting the most vulnerable in
Irish society and preying on their trust of the Garda.
The news broke earlier this month of a con-man stealing
from elderly people in Cork, Limerick, and other
southern counties while pretending to be a member of
an Garda Sochna; now, it seems the same scam is
happening in the West.
Mayo has been reported as the latest county to be
targeted. Elderly people in particular seem to be the
focus of the cruel trick, whereby a man acting as a plain-
clothes detective goes door-to-door.
The man, who claims he works with Castlebar Garda
Station, has knocked on the doors of several people in
Bohola and Castlebar asking if security measures are up
to scratch.

Feigning interest in helping them secure any valuables or
cash they may have, the scam artist takes euro notes to
his car to check that theyre not counterfeit. He then
takes off with the cash, according to the Irish Times.
People all across Ireland are being urged to stay vigilant
and report any suspicious behaviour to the Garda.
Take care of your elderly neighbours too, who might be
vulnerable to malicious visits such as these.
https://buzz.ie/a-fake-garda-is-now-scamming-people-in-the-west-of-ireland/
Fearing a bloodbath in Fine Gael as Ministers and TD's jockey
to replace Enda Kenny as Taoiseach the party have decided to
elect not one, but up to six or seven to the post as rotating
Taoisigh.
A party source said "We were afraid Simon and Leo would
come to blows and end up brawling on the street to see who
was top dog. And poor Si Harris - I mean, he's only a kid and
these streetwise guys like Leo and Paschal would gang up on
him. Frances Fitzgerald will also get to be Taoiseach, she'll be
like a party matriarch the way Fianna Fil have Mary O'Rourke.
And we couldn't forget Richard - he's wanted this job since
around 1967."

Each Taoiseach will get to lead the country for a month at a

time, the only problem so far is that nobody wants to be
Taoiseach in February. Michel Martin of Fianna Fil who is the
real boss will choose the new Taoiseach at the start of every
month. To keep all the Fine Gael TD's happy there will also be
rotating Tanaiste's so that will keep troublemakers like John
Paul Phelan and Alan Farrell happy said the source.
When asked by Sen O'Rourke if this was a bit crazy Noel
Rock said "not at all, it's a bit like the Late Late Show - there's
a job for everyone in the audience - And I get to nominate a
Taoiseach every month, I already have huge experience,
having nominated Enda four times in 2016. Asked if the
Independent Alliance would be happy with this new way of
doing politics, Rock said "We have agreed to make Shane
Ross Taoiseach for one day - on St Patrick's Day when the
rest of the cabinet will all be on an overseas junket".

Asked by Eileen Dunne on RT's Six One News what he

thought of the new Rotating Taoisigh, Enda Kenny said "I met
a man with two pints in Mullingar and he said to me "Enda, you
deserve a medal - you have been doing the work of 6 people
since 2011".

Judge dismisses drink

driving charge against
garda who was five times
over the legal limit
Wednesday 10th June 2015
A judge convicted a 35-year-old garda of
careless driving after throwing out a charge
of drink driving despite a recorded
breathalyser reading of 265mg.
The limit in Ireland is 50mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood.
The court heard that on the 29th of August 2013 Garda
Una Ryan of 13 Hillcrest, Kilcullen, stationed at Naas
Garda Station, was pulled over and breathalysed on
Edward Street in Newbridge, Kildare.
Two officers from Newbridge Station Garda Young and
Garda Conor Sheehan saw a car pulling out with no lights
on, the court was told.

The vehicle then drove straight through a red light and

nearly caused a collision.
The officers then turned on their siren and pulled Garda
Ryan over.
They found that she had a strong smell of alcohol and was
unsteady on her feet.
Her breathalyser result was five times over the legal limit.
Despite this the youngest judge in the state, Grainne
ONeill, accepted a defence submission that there were
technical issues with the procedures on the night.
Judge ONeill said there was an issue over the caution
although Garda Young was positive that he did caution
Garda Ryan.
Garda Ryan was convicted of careless driving and fined
300.
The Leinster Leader reports that in mitigation
Garda Ryans barrister said that his client was a 35-year-
old single woman and that because of her profession it
was a huge embarrassment for her.
She had undergone rehabilitation and was in much better
health.
He said her conviction would impact on her job and she
has been taken off certain duties and hopes she will be
restored to full duties.
He also said that Garda Ryan will be the subject of
disciplinary matters arising from this case.
The Garda Ombudsmans office (GSOC) said that no
complaint regarding Garda Ryan has been made to them.
GSOC sources confirmed that An Garda Siochana are
only obliged to refer a case to GSOC if there has been a
death or serious crime and that members of the public can
only submit a complaint if they were directly involved in an
incident or were a witness.
I wouldnt expect to get a report in on this said the
source.
http://www.sundayworld.com/news/crimedesk/judge-dismisses-drink-
driving-charge-against-garda#.WKtXoCtqDAo.facebook




















Concerns about Garda
Commissioner's role during inquiry-
Policing Authority chairperson
Updated / Friday, 24 Feb 2017

Nirn O'Sullivan says the work of the garda is not being affected
by the ongoing controversies
This is the actual article body
The chairperson of the Policing Authority has said
she has "a degree of confidence" but is concerned
about the ability of the Garda Commissioner to carry
out her role while the Charleton tribunal is under way.
The inquiry will investigate an alleged smear
campaign by senior garda against garda
whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe.
Garda Commissioner Nirn O'Sullivan yesterday
assured a public session of the Policing Authority that
the work of the garda is not being affected by the
ongoing controversies.
Policing Authority Chairperson Josephine Feehily this
morning said she has confidence in Commissioner
O'Sullivan's capacity with her senior team to run the
organisation but it is the parallel running of her job
and servicing the tribunal which raises a question.
Speaking on RT's Today with Sean O'Rourke, Ms
Feehily said the work of the Charleton tribunal is
hugely important but should move at pace to bring a
finality to a "saga" which is "potentially corrosive" to
policing and to garda morale.

She said the issues before the Charleton tribunal now

need to be investigated as they have been damaging
to public confidence in the garda and the morale of
members. It will give all parties a chance to say their
piece, she said.
The concern about the culture of An Garda Sochna
has been there for some time, she said, and the
Policing Authority has pressed the organisation to do
a culture audit, which is now out for tender.
The issue of "how to create an environment for
speaking out" needs to be properly implemented, she
said.
She added that the authority is concerned that the
focus of senior garda management will be on the
tribunal rather than on policing but said the
commissioner is looking at how best to manage it.
Ms Feehily said she is also concerned the motivation,
energy and morale of the garda will be affected
negatively by the tribunal.

https://www.rte.ie/news/2017/0224/855076-garda-commissioner-charleton-
tribunal/










Woman tells court she didnt

realise a garda was trying to
stop her as she drove past

23:42 Thursday 23rd of February 2017

A woman was fined for not having motor tax but had a
charge of failing to stop for a garda dismissed. She
claimed she did not notice the garda standing in the
road, nor did she see the patrol car with flashing blue
lights.
Corrina Shovlin (39) of 14 Glen View, Ardara was before
Glenties District Court on Wednesday.
Garda Gavaghan of Glenties Garda Station gave
evidence that on November 26, 2015 he saw Shovlins
car parked in Ardara. He wanted to talk to her because
he knew she did not have road tax. He asked his
colleague Garda Coyne who was driving the patrol car to
turn back and stop. Garda Coyne did so, pulling up
outside Ardara Garda Station.
I stood in the middle of the road, said Garda
Gavaghan. I put my hand in the air. As the vehicle
approached it didnt make any attempt to slow down.
The garda stepped out of the way. He said the car then
stopped around 50 metres further on. Garda Gavaghan
saw the defendant look back and then drive off. He and
Garda Coyne went to Shovlins house.
I asked her did she have any reason for going past me
when I was in the middle of the road, said Garda
Gavaghan. She replied that she panicked because she
had no tax.
The disc showed that the tax had expired 14 months
earlier.
Shovlin who opted not to be represented in court by a
solicitor questioned both Garda Gavaghan and Garda
Coyne on where the patrol car was parked. She believed
it was parked where her view of it would have been
obscured by trees. Both garda said that was not the
case. They claimed it was parked at the Garda Station
gate with the blue light flashing. However, they
acknowledged that it may have been possible that the
defendant did not notice the car.
Distracted
Shovlin then gave evidence that on the date in question,
she was distracted by an upsetting personal matter.
Both garda acknowledged that they were aware of the
personal circumstances outlined by Shovlin in court.
I genuinely did not see a garda on the road, she said.
I did see someone on the road and I waved. When I
looked back I thought oh sh*t, that was a guard.' I went
home. I probably should have gone back.
Asked why she had not paid her motor tax, Shovlin
replied: I couldnt afford to pay it at the time and
because 66% of it was going towards Irish Water.
Judge Paul Kelly said both garda had given evidence in a
very fair manner.
Both conceded that she may not have seen the garda
car, said Judge Kelly. It seems extremely unlikely that
she didnt see Garda Gavaghan in the middle of the
road. But the fact that she was distracted may give her
the benefit of the doubt.
Addressing Shovlin directly, the judge said: Thankfully
nothing harmful came from it. It is not desirable that
you should be driving in such a state that you didnt see
someone standing in the middle of the road.
Judge Kelly dismissed the charge of failing to stop for a
garda. He fined Shovlin 150 for not having motor tax.
Asked why she had not paid her motor tax, Shovlin replied: I
couldnt afford to pay it at the time and because 66% of it was
going towards Irish Water.Corinna Mc Callig (nee Shovlin
Policing Authority opening statement
http://policingauthority.ie/Website/PA/PolicingAuthorityWeb.nsf/page/IAHD-
AJULF415422923-en/$File/Opening%2023-2.pdf
This has to be a BAD JOKE, AS THE ACCUSED HAS TO FACE A CHARGE
WITHOUT ANY PROPER CHANCE AS THE OPPOSITION IS LOADED
AGAINST HIM. THE LAW IS OWNED BY THE GOVERNMENT. THE
PEOPLE MUST USE PEOPLE POWER TO DEFEND PAUL MURPHY FROM
THIS LOADED CASE. PEOPLE POWER MUST SURVIVE
They can't build a Children's Hospital. They can't house the
homeless. They can't provide hospital beds. One in six people
in Ireland are on hospital waiting lists. And this gobshite Alan
Farrell of Fine Gael wants to build a cricket stadium. What
planet are these people on?

Garda facing 212 charges
of corruption and theft
remanded for trial

Ralph Riegel Twitter

EMAIL
PUBLISHED
22/02/2017

1
Stock picture
A garda charged with more than 200 counts
of deception and receiving corrupt payments
has been remanded for trial.
Garda John OHalloran appeared before Cork Circuit
Criminal Court charged with a total of 212 counts.
These ranged from allegedly receiving corrupt payments to
deception and theft charges involving various locations
around Cork city.
Judge Sean O'Donnabhain was told that the case was a
new return and he adjourned the matter for trial to the
May sessions of Cork Circuit Criminal Court.
Previously, Cork District Court was told that Mr
OHalloran (46) made no reply when he was arrested,
cautioned and charged with the matters.
A precise figure for the sums involved was not available
but it could extend to tens of thousands of Euro.
The accused was charged after being arrested at his home
on the South Douglas Road, Cork last January and
brought to Togher Garda Station.
The charges involve dates between 2009 and 2014 and
ranged from alleged acceptance of corrupt payments to
deception and theft counts.
Some of the theft charges involve sums of less than 100.
The largest amount involved is 2,500.
A number of charges were also brought under the
Prevention of Corruption Act.
These charges alleged that Mr OHalloran obtained or
accepted a payment or a gift for the provision of his
services as a serving member of the Garda.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had instructed
that the matter be dealt with before Cork Circuit Criminal
Court and a judge and jury.
Judge O'Donnabhain remanded the defendant on bail
continuing bail with existing conditions until the May
sessions.
These included that he not have any contact with potential
witnesses in the case, that he enters an independent
surety, that he surrender his passport and undertake not
to apply for a new one and that he reside at an address
specified to Garda.
The defendant has also provided an independent surety of
5,000 with a cash lodgment of 1,000
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/garda-facing-212-charges-of-
corruption-and-theft-remanded-for-trial-35473360.html

Tusla: Confidence in
system undermined
by Sgt McCabe affair
Updated / Wednesday, 22 Feb 2017

Fred McBride has apologised to people affected by mistakes of

Tusla
This is the actual article body
Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, has said public
confidence in the system may have been undermined
by recent revelations involving Sergeant Maurice
McCabe but that it was not reflective of the standards
held by the agency.
Speaking at an Oireachtas Committee on Children
and Youth Affairs, Chief Executive Fred McBride
reiterated an apology to people who may have been
affected by the mistakes of Tusla.
Mr McBride confirmed Tusla had yesterday received
formal notification from the Charleton Tribunal of
Inquiry into allegations that senior members of An
Garda Sochna sought to discredit Sgt McCabe.
The Tribunal will investigate whether there may have
been inappropriate contacts between An Garda
Sochna and Tusla in relation to whistleblowers Sgt
McCabe and Garda Keith Harrison, and possibly
other members of the force.
Tusla sent a file containing false allegations of sexual
abuse against Sgt McCabe to garda in 2013.
It also opened files on Sgt McCabe's children
containing the false allegations.
The agency has since written to the Department of
Children acknowledging that an error occurred and
that an internal case review had been ordered.
In his opening statement, Mr McBride said he had no
knowledge or evidence that Tusla staff acted with
malice or intent, adding that he did not receive
evidence or information in that regard.
Otherwise, he said he would have intervened
immediately.
He did, however, say mistakes were made and that
he looked forward to co-operating with the Tribunal of
Inquiry.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2017/0222/854531-tusla-oireachtas/










Tusla chief vows no repeat of Maurice

McCabe scenario
Tusla chief executive Fred McBride has said measures have been
taken to ensure there can be no repeat of the issues in the Maurice
McCabe case.
Thursday, February 23, 2017

However, he admitted the Child and Family Agency is still dealing

with legacy issues, as it seeks to improve its services.
Mr McBride led a Tusla delegation before the Joint Oireachtas
Committee on Children and Youth Affairs and reiterated his apology
in relation to Sgt McCabe, while also confirming that the commission
of inquiry into those matters had contacted Tusla this week.
Mr McBride could not refer directly to the case, but said steps had
been taken to avoid a repeat of such a scenario and he said the
commission of inquiry cant come soon enough.
He stressed he had no information or evidence that anyone in Tusla
acted out of malice in the McCabe case. He added that the Office of
the Data Protection Commissioner had been in contact since the
recent controversy and that Tusla would work to respond to any
queries. Since the recent revelations, Tusla staff have been
instructed to be extra-vigilant regarding data matters, the committee
heard.
Mr McBride said of historic allegations of abuse: Its especially
challenging, because the legal framework around this, in our view, is
not specific enough.
He referred to the proposed overhaul of legislation, dating back to
1991, in this regard and of the need in Tusla to develop skills to
conduct forensic-type interviews with alleged perpetrators in those
cases.
Regarding historical cases, he said the priority afforded to them
depended on the circumstances, with those in which there was a
likely immediate risk to children given high priority. He admitted
some older cases might be made a lower priority unless there was
very specific information that a child or children are at current or
immediate risk.
As for the process, he said: What we do is we would initially open an
intake record, a record of the referral being made to us. Not all
become ongoing cases or are turned into files, but we do have to
keep a record of all information that is passed to us and, where
appropriate, if a possible criminal offence has been committed, we
would share that with the guards.
Mr McBride said Tusla had dedicated teams that deal with the initial
referrals, the vast majority of which are screened to make an initial
determination of the level of risk, with a team leader deciding
whether to move towards an initial assessment. He said all cases
were reviewed on a regular basis, with contact made with families
and schools.
He said if someone deliberately made a false allegation, it would be
difficult to discover immediately... until we had a reason to doubt
it.
As for any false allegations within Tusla, he said he believed systems
and processes were in place to deal with it, but it would probably
come at the point where we had taken the referral to the next stage
of assessment. Mr McBride said Tusla had dedicated contact points
with team leaders to deal with referrals that come in, rather than
multiple contact points which had been a legacy issue that we have
tried to resolve.
The committee heard that any incorrect information placed on a
referral template was taken down and corrected. In cases where a
false allegation is made, it can be erased, but a note is made of the
deleted file.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/tusla-chief-vows-no-repeat-of-maurice-
mccabe-scenario-443567.html

Child protection chief denies

whistleblower sex abuse claim was
malicious
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
There is no evidence child protection workers acted with "malice of
intent" in the Garda whistleblower scandal, the head of the state
child agency has said.
Tusla is among those being investigated over its role in an alleged
smear campaign against Sergeant Maurice McCabe, in a controversy
that has brought the government close to collapse.
The agency had a file containing false allegations of sexual abuse
against Mr McCabe, at a time when he was exposing wrongdoing
within the force.
Fred McBride, chief executive of Tusla, confirmed it began "formally
engaging" with the public tribunal set up to probe the affair on
Tuesday.

Fred McBride
Before a parliamentary committee, he said he was restrained on how
much he could say about matters under investigation by the inquiry,
headed by Supreme Court judge Peter Charleton.
"But I think it is important to point out that I have no knowledge or
evidence that Tusla staff acted with any malice of intent," he said.
"I also wish to make it clear that if I did receive - or in any time in
the future receive - such evidence or information, I will intervene
personally and immediately and publicly."
Mr McBride added that "mistakes were made" and that the agency
was looking forward to addressing the affair "in its totality" during
the public inquiry.
"Indeed, as far as I'm concerned the inquiry can't come soon enough,
in order that all the facts are known and responsibility and
accountability can be properly and fairly attributed," he said.
Mr McBride told the Joint Committee on Children and Youth Affairs
that dealing with historical abuse allegations was particularly
challenging for the agency.
This is when an adult comes forward to disclose abuse as a child.
"It is especially challenging because the legal framework around this
is not specific enough," he said, adding that the agency needed more
expertise and skills in the area.
Sgt McCabe was at the centre of an unfounded and false report on a
Tusla file of an allegation of sex abuse against a colleague's
daughter.
A counsellor working on behalf of the agency had claimed the error
was made when details from a different case were cut and pasted on
to a file.
Mr McBride said he wanted to reiterate an apology "to people
affected by our mistakes and for the distress and upset they have
endured".
He added: "I accept that public confidence in the system may well
have been undermined because of that.
"But what has happened here is not reflective, I think, of the high
standards that staff hold themselves to, or that I as chief executive
hold them to - particularly in relation to the handling of sensitive
information."

http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/child-
protection-chief-denies-whistleblower-sex-abuse-claim-was-
malicious-778329.html
Questions to answer over Maurice
McCabe allegation
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Michael Clifford
Michael Clifford deconstructs an interview by the woman at the
centre of the Maurice McCabe/Tusla controversy and finds that it
raises more questions than it answered.

The woman at the centre of the Maurice McCabe/Tusla/Garda

controversy gave an extraordinary interview yesterday. The article in
The Irish Times raised more questions than it answered, particularly
in relation to the woman herself.
It also raised questions about the questions that went unasked of the
woman in the interview, or at least the apparent inconsistencies in
her story.
This is the woman who went for a counselling session in July 2013,
out of which emerged the false allegation of serious sexual abuse
against Sgt Maurice McCabe. She says she never made any such
allegation. Tusla had put the false allegation down to a clerical
error. The matter will be investigated by the Charleton Tribunal.
In yesterdays interview, the woman said she did disclose at the
counselling session an allegation she had made against Sgt McCabe
in 2006. This related to a birthday party in the McCabe home in 1998
when the woman was then aged six in which she alleged Sgt
McCabe had rubbed up against her inappropriately.
Sgt McCabe and her father were colleagues in An Garda Sochna.
Some months before the allegation was made, Sgt McCabe had a
role in the disciplining of the girls father for a transgression,
although she denied this in The Irish Times interview.
The womans 2006 allegation had been investigated by a senior
garda who sent a file to the DPP with the recommendation of no
prosecution. The DPP had concurred, and added that, even if there
had been any evidence to support the allegation, it most likely didnt
even constitute a criminal offence.
As of now, it appears that the minor allegation of inappropriate
contact got mixed up in Tusla with a totally unconnected allegation
of serious sexual assault against another individual in a different
case. It was either a major mistake or a conspiracy. The Charleton
Tribunal will determine that.
In yesterdays piece, the woman said she only mentioned the 2006
incident at her 2013 counselling session when asked about it.
She said the counsellor began taking down the details, but the
woman was uneasy about it. She said the counsellor told her: Ill
have to refer this on.
I remember straight away it got my back up, the woman told The
Irish Times. I was thinking: Refer what on? This has been reported,
this has been investigated and the DPP said insufficient evidence.
Thats that, theres nothing going to change, I have accepted that.
"I remember coming out of the counselling session and I was more
annoyed than when I went in; I remember thinking: Stirring up shit
for what? I knew by her she was going to report it whether I wanted
to or not.
She may well have had these thoughts but nowhere in the interview
does she say she passed on that information to the counsellor. If she
had done so, and made plain that the legal aspect of the matter had
been dealt with, there would have been no more about it, and
certainly less scope for the apparent mistake that subsequently
occurred.
(A statement from the womans solicitor, issued yesterday to the Irish
Examiner, claims that she did tell the counsellor that her allegation
had been fully investigated.)
Also strange was her contention that she had accepted what had
occurred with her case seven years previously and she didnt want to
revisit it.
If she really wanted to put all that behind her, what happened in the
months that followed was highly unusual.
In early 2014, according to Supt David Taylor, a text was being
circulated in Garda HQ to the effect that journalist Paul Williams was
in the womans house at that moment interviewing her.
Within a few weeks stories began appearing in the Irish Independent
under Williams byline based on an interview with her. In these
stories, neither the woman nor Sgt McCabe were identified.

Maurice McCabe, above, and the womans father were colleagues.

One piece published on April 16, 2014, stated that the woman
claimed she was sexually assaulted by a serving garda and how the
incident sent her into a downward spiral. She stated in the article
that she was not pleased with the outcome of the investigation into
her allegation.
In a follow-on article in the same paper a few weeks later, she said
she was considering legal action against her alleged attacker Sgt
McCabe. No such action was ever pursued.
She also met Fianna Fil leader Michel Martin with her complaint,
asking him to try and have it included in the Guerin report, which
was set up to look into McCabes complaints. In addition, she went to
GSOC to complain of how her original allegation had been dealt
with.
All of this from a person who now says that, at the time, she had
accepted how her case had been dealt with some seven years earlier
and she wanted to move on. We had no choice in this. I dont want
any attention, she was quoted as saying in The Irish Times.
In relation to the 2006 allegation, she is quoted as saying she
revealed this to her mother in December after she had come home
one lunchtime with a friend after a period of deep distress. She
does not directly attribute this distress to her allegation of the
inappropriate contact seven years previously.
Equally, in 2013, she is quoted yesterday as saying she went to the
counselling session because she was struggling with anxiety,
depression and other issues. It is not explicitly stated whether she
attributes these feeling to the alleged incident, which by then had
occurred 15 years earlier.
It may well be the case that she attributes all that emotional distress
to what she alleges happened, but we simply dont know. This is a
vital point in her account of the impact of what was deemed to be an
allegation of an inappropriate act when she was a child.
There are other points in the interview that conflict with various
accounts given by Sgt McCabe, but these will be teased out in the
tribunal. The woman at the centre of this issue is understandably
annoyed at being dragged into the spotlight about these issues that
occurred so long ago.
She says she is eager to give her evidence to the tribunal. I would
welcome it, she told The Irish Times of the prospect of giving
evidence.
Her evidence will be another piece in the jigsaw of whether Sgt
McCabe and his family came to be the victims of a monumental
mistake or conspiracy in this appalling affair.
The woman herself was unavailable for interview. In response to the
points raised in this article, the womans solicitor made the following
replies:
In relation to what happened in early 2014 she had observed
Maurice McCabe being publicly identified and felt that her original
case should be look at again, just as some of the cases he had
highlighted were being examined.
While the Irish Times interview didnt state it, I can confirm that she
explicitly told the counsellor in 2013 that her allegation had been
full investigated and had been completed with a DPP
recommendation of no prosecution.
In relation to any emotional issues referred to there were other
issues in her life at the time including family loss.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/viewpoints/analysis/questions-to-answer-
over-maurice-mccabe-allegation-443413.html

McGuinness calls for Garda

Commissioner to stand aside during
tribunal
Monday, February 20, 2017
A senior member of Fianna Fil has restated his call for the Garda
Commissioner to stand aside while the whistleblower tribunal is
carried out.

The Dil signed off on its terms of reference last week, and the
Tnaiste has pledged to get it up and running as soon as possible.

Fianna Fil's justice spokesman has stated he believes Noirin

O'Sullivan should be able to stay in her job for the duration.

However his party colleague John McGuinness said today he thinks

otherwise.
"This is not about guilt or innocence, this is about best practice in the
process. The answer to your question based on that is that she
should stand aside."
http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/mcguinness-calls-for-
garda-commissioner-to-stand-aside-during-tribunal-777981.html

Questions posed by Maurice McCabe

remain unanswered amid the tumult
The first time Garda whistle-blower Sergeant Maurice McCabes
concerns of serious malpractice and alleged cover-ups in the force
gained public attention, former Garda commissioner Martin Callinan
retired after a late-night knock on the door, writes Fiachra
Cionnaith.
Sunday, February 19, 2017

When the questions came again, it was ex-justice minister Alan

Shatters turn to fall on his sword.
Department of Justice secretary general Brian Purcell and Garda
Confidential recipient Oliver Connolly soon followed when given the
nod to have their own hara kiri moment.
And after a week that has once more seen the same questions return
to centre stage, current Garda Commissioner Nirn OSullivan and
Taoiseach Enda Kenny are facing the real prospect of suffering a
similar demise.
Sgt McCabes legitimate questions, however, still remain
unanswered.
And while the political fallout from the Garda whistleblower crisis is
understandably taking up almost all of the limelight, this fact
remains a scandal within a scandal which still needs to be addressed.
At this stage, four years after his concerns became public and 11
years after some of them were first made, Sgt McCabe who has
never sought retirements, resignations and the ends of careers
still does not know who, if anyone, was behind the alleged smear
campaign against his name.
He does not know whether the incident was triggered by his
complaint against a Garda colleague in 2006, by his raising of issues
over penalty points, or about further revelations which have led to
demands to reform the entire Garda force.
He does not know if the Facebook videos of garda playing with a
stuffed rat called Maurice at the height of the furore in 2014 and
2015 were highly inappropriate, ill-coloured jokes or part of a wider
strategy.
He does not know if former chief Garda press officer Dave Taylor is
correct in his strongly disputed allegation that senior officers
including Garda Commissioner Ms OSullivan knew of the smear
campaign.
Noirin OSullivan

He does not know if the entirely false Tusla allegations were simply
a copy-and-paste error by an unwitting counsellor or something far
more sinister.
And crucially, despite the Fennelly, OHiggins, Guerin, and ONeill
reports, he and his family are still suffering from the nightmare from
which they are yet to wake.
On Tuesday, as the latest stage of the Garda whistle-blower scandal
began to bite hard on the heels of a fleeing Taoiseach, Sgt McCabe
outlined six key questions which he wants answered on the Tusla
controversy.
- Whether a meeting sought by the HSE with garda in 2013 took
place.
- Who was the garda or garda who engaged in phone conversations
with a HSE counsellor about the false rape allegation?
- Who interviewed the alleged victim in respect of that allegation in
May 2014 as claimed by her solicitor?
- Was any of the foregoing Garda activity reported or recorded within
the force?
- Was any of the foregoing Garda activity notified formally or
informally to senior garda at commissioner level, and if not, why
not?
- Was any decision made not to inform Sgt McCabe of the 2013
allegation and if so, why and by whom?
However, in keeping with tradition on the whistle-blower affair, he
has yet to receive any answers.
The ongoing political fallout from Sgt McCabes attempts to reveal
the full extent of problems within An Garda Sochna is
understandably and correctly receiving significant attention this
weekend.
However, the inability of the State to give answers to Sgt McCabes
concerns which remain at the centre of the scandal should not
be ignored.
Even if Enda Kenny announces his decision to resign in the coming
days, that troubling reality will remain in place.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/viewpoints/analysis/questions-posed-by-
maurice-mccabe-remain-unanswered-amid-the-tumult-443264.html

Maurice McCabe: False sex abuse

claim by Tusla destroyed my family
Whistleblower Sgt Maurice McCabe has said a false allegation of sex
abuse circulated by Tusla, the child and family agency, has destroyed
his family.

It has emerged that the file containing the false allegation of abuse
was opened by Tusla and circulated to garda in 2013. However, no
effort was made to substantiate the claim.
The abuse allegations were made by a young woman in August 2013
to a counsellor, who then contacted Tusla and garda. However, Sgt
McCabe was neither contacted nor made aware of the allegations.
In 2014, Tusla admitted a mistake had been made and attributed the
false accusation to a clerical error.
It was only last year that Sgt McCabe became aware that the highly
damaging false abuse allegation had been widely circulated. He is to
take a legal case against Tusla and has met with Minister for
Children Katherine Zappone. She has indicated a public apology will
be forthcoming.
Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Sgt McCabe said the whole affair had
left his family distraught.
They have destroyed us, he said. I find it hard to believe that it
was an honest mistake.
Even though the sex abuse allegation was on file in 2013 and 2014,
Sgt McCabe was not contacted about either its existence or the
discovery that the allegation was completely false.
How can I and my family be on the system [in Tusla] since 2013 and
not be told about it, he said. The first I knew about any of this was
when I was contacted about that horrendous allegation last year.
Major questions remain as to how the allegation came about, how it
was processed by both the garda and Tusla, and why Sgt McCabe
was never informed about it.
The allegation surfaced during a period when Sgt McCabes claims of
malpractice were causing major political and Garda-related
controversy.
The allegation was known among senior management within the
force. According to the file on the matter, an internal memo in Tusla
on June 4, 2014, recorded the following: The retrospective report
which you are aware contains a clerical error. I was informed that the
superintendent in the jurisdiction referred to in the report was not
yet aware of the clerical error and has been asked to a meeting with
the commissioner in relation to the case.
It is unclear the extent to which Garda Commissioner Nirn
OSullivan was aware of the allegation or the subsequent discovery
of a major error. However, as the head of the force, she should have
been informed and she should have been obliged to inform Sgt
McCabe of the development.
At no point in the process was Sgt McCabe informed about what had
occurred, either after the initial file was created, or once it was
discovered to be an error. He was not arrested or questioned about
the initial allegation, and nor was he informed by the commissioner,
his employer, about the error after May 2014.
It is as yet unclear whether the whole affair was as a result of gross
error and incompetence or whether there were attempts to
deliberately smear Sgt McCabe with the abuse allegation.
Even if incompetence was at fault, the failure to inform Sgt McCabe
is inexplicable.
He only became aware of the issue when he was contacted by a
social worker in Tusla in January last year about the allegation. He
was told he would have to be interviewed.
We will have to decide if you pose a risk to children, the letter said.
The social worker who sent the letter was operating off the initial
allegation and was not aware that a correction had been made.
The revelations put in context the rumours and propaganda that has
been swirling around Sgt McCabe since he brought forward his
claims of malpractice in the force.
On Wednesday, Labour leader Brendan Howlin told the Dil that he
had been contacted by a journalist who told him he had direct
knowledge of Ms OSullivan briefing journalists that Sgt McCabe was
responsible for sexual crimes.
Ms OSullivan has denied spreading the allegations of sex crimes
against Sgt McCabe.
In a statement issued later on Wednesday, she said she was surprised
by claims of her involvement in a smear campaign targeting Sgt
McCabe and insisted it was the first time she had heard the
accusation.
The commissioner has no knowledge of the matters referred to by
Deputy Howlin and refutes in the strongest terms the suggestion
that she has engaged in the conduct alleged against a serving
member of An Garda Sochna, said Ms OSullivans statement.
Mr Justice Peter Charleton has been appointed to lead an inquiry into
the allegations that senior officers attempted to blacken Sgt
McCabes name.
Justice Minister Francis Fitzgerald has agreed to broaden the terms
of reference of the inquiry following heated exchanges in the Dil.
Opposition parties and a government backbencher repeated calls for
Ms OSullivan to step down. However, she maintains the full support
of the Government.
Speaking in Poland, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said there was no prima
facie evidence or no indication of any wrongdoing of any kind by the
Garda Commissioner, and she was fully entitled to the support of the
Government while a commission of inquiry investigates allegations
against her.

From January 2006 to present, we look back at the key moments in
the Maurice McCabe whistleblower crisis.

Maurice McCabe, Nirn O'Sullivan, Katherine Zappone

2006
January:
Sgt Maurice McCabe makes complaint against a garda colleague
which ends up with the officer being disciplined.
December:
A garda makes a complaint against Sgt McCabe, alleging he rubbed
up against a six-year-old girl inappropriately while playing hide and
seek with his children. Sgt McCabe asks that the complaint be fully
investigated. The DPP finds the allegation was without foundation.
2012
Sgt McCabe steps into the public spotlight becoming the most high-
profile whistleblower in the force after raising concerns about the
internal handling of an assault allegation. A few months later, he
lifted the lid on the penalty points controversy, claiming well- known
personalities had their points wiped.
Maurice McCabe

READ MORE: Maurice McCabe: Nothing but a public inquiry will do

Nov:
An interim report on the penalty points controversy is given to then-
minister for justice Alan Shatter.
2013
May:
Penalty report by assistant commissioner John OMahony is
published. It finds there may have been a breach of rules. In reply,
the then Garda commissioner Martin Callinan said that no evidence
has been found to suggest any criminality in the cancellation of
fixed charge notices.
August:
A garda and Tusla are contacted by a counsellor, making them aware
of a child abuse allegation against a garda. The garda in question is
Sgt McCabe. The alleged victim is the same woman who made the
claim in 2006. A file is sent to Bailieboro Station on the basis that
this is his local station. However, he had not worked there since
2008.
October:
The comptroller and auditor general report supports whistleblower
claims on the penalty points scandal.
2014
January:
Commissioner Martin Callinan ignites a political and public storm
after calling the actions of garda whistleblowers disgusting.

Martin Callinan

READ MORE: Courageous public servant Maurice McCabe has earned

the gratitude of thousands
Then PAC chairman John McGuinness says that he met Mr Callinan in
a carpark. Mr Callinan attempted to undermine the credibility of Sgt
McCabe, saying he was not to be trusted and there were serious
issues about him. A few days later, Sgt McCabe appeared before the
PAC outlining his concerns over the abuse of the penalty points
system.
March 12:
Garda Inspectorate report into penalty points finds widespread
breaches of policy.
March 25:
Mr Callinan retires for family reasons. Assistant commissioner
Nirn OSullivan appointed acting commissioner.
April:
The Child and Family Agency (later to become Tusla) opens files on
Sgt McCabe and his family alleging sexual abuse.
May 7:
Mr Shatter resigns.
* Two years following his resignation, the OHiggins Commissions
findings were that Mr. Shatter had dealt with the issues raised by
Sergeant McCabe appropriately and properly.

Alan Shater

READ MORE: A fact-finding mission that would have to start from

scratch
May:
Counsellor contacts Tusla to say allegation of digital penetration in
McCabe file have been copied and pasted in error. Garda are
notified of the error by Tusla.
June:
A meeting is scheduled between the local superintendent and an
assistant Garda commissioner. However, the meeting did not take
place, according to garda.
2015
February:
OHiggins Commission of Investigation, which looks at allegations by
Sgt McCabe of malpractice in the Cavan-Monaghan division, is set
up.
December:
Tusla writes to Sgt McCabe informing him he is being investigated
following allegations of child sex abuse. It is the first time he is
made aware of the allegations. Sgt McCabe denies the claim.

2016
May:
The OHiggins commission vindicates Sgt McCabes version of events
and upholds the majority of his allegations.
May 13:
Irish Examiner publishes details of commission documents which
show the legal team of Garda commissioner Nirn OSullivan
attacked the motivation of Sgt McCabe, suggesting he was motivated
by malice.
Nirn OSullivan

READ MORE: OHiggins commission key to any probe regarding

alleged smear against Maurice McCabe
June:
Sgt McCabe is contacted by Tusla which informs him that the sex
abuse allegation was an error.
October:
Retired High Court Judge Iarfhlaith ONeill appointed to do paper
review of the reports on the garda treatment of Sgt McCabe.
2017
January:
Sgt McCabe gets copy of freedom of information file on the handling
of the allegation against him which outlines in detail the extent of
the errors.
January 18:
Childrens Minister Katherine Zappones office makes contact with
the McCabes.
Katherine Zappone

READ MORE: Any hearing should be held in public - McCabe scandal

January 24:
Peter Charleton Commission of Inquiry into allegation of a smear
campaign against Sgt McCabe is announced by Government.
January 25:
Ms Zappone meets with the McCabes and is shocked by the details
outlined.
February 8:
Labour leader Brendan Howlin delivers a bombshell in Dil outlining,
for the first time, the exact nature of the allegations against Sgt
McCabe.
February 9:
Michael Clifford of the Irish Examiner and RT Investigates release
details of the Tusla file on the false sex abuse allegations and lay
bare the litany of errors by State agencies and garda. The details
sparked a full political crisis.
February 9:
Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald claims she was not aware of Tusla
link.
February 10:
Ms Zappone causes confusion after saying she informed relevant
Government colleagues about Tusla errors. Mr Kenny and Ms
Fitzgerald say they were not aware of the details.
Frances Fitzgerald

READ MORE: Conflicting accounts from Zappone and Kenny in

McCabes case
February 10:
Sgt McCabe say he is to sue for damages.
February 11:
HSE issues an apology to the McCabes. However, it emerges HSE did
not have an address for the McCabes and did not make any contact
with them prior to releasing the apology.
February 12:
Frances Fitzgerald says she did not know about the details of the
Tusla file until she saw it on RT and did not ask Ms Zappone about
her meeting with the McCabes. Mr Kenny tells RT Ms Zappone did
not tell him of the details of the McCabe meeting.
February 12:
McCabes reject HSE apology.
February 13:
Fianna Fil Justice spokesman Jim OCallaghan says he that told Ms
Fitzgerald of the Tusla link on February 8. She maintains that Tusla
was not mentioned. Ms Zappone also contradicts Mr Kennys version
of when he first learned of Tuslas involvement, stating she made
him aware ahead of Cabinet meeting on February 7.
February 13:
McCabe family issues a statement rejecting any private inquiry and
calling for a public inquiry.
Whistleblower Maurice McCabe has demanded that Taoiseach Enda
Kenny, Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald and other ministers reveal
if they were ever briefed on false sex abuse claims peddled against
him.

In a rare statement from Mr McCabe and his wife Lorraine, they also
rejected the need for the imminent "secret" commission of inquiry
into the "sustained campaign to destroy our characters".

Instead, the couple called for politicians and police to tell the truth
immediately about who knew of the false allegations being spread
about Mr McCabe as he tried to expose wrongdoing within the force.

"We have endured eight years of great suffering, private nightmare,

public defamation and state vilification, arising solely from the
determination of Maurice to ensure that the Garda Siochana adheres
to decent and appropriate standards of policing in its dealings with
the Irish people," they said.

The McCabes said their personal lives and family life - including the
lives of their five children - have been "systematically attacked" in a
number of ways by State agencies.

"We have also been the subject of a long and sustained campaign to
destroy our characters in the eyes of the public and public
representatives and in the eyes of the media," the couple said.

On the imminent inquiry, to be headed by Judge Peter Charleton, the

McCabes said they are "definitely not agreeable" to their entitlement
to the truth being postponed by a "secret investigation behind closed
doors" which could take one and a half years.

"We are entitled to the truth today - justice can follow in its wake,"
they said.
"We wish to make it clear that we are definitely not agreeable to that
entitlement being wholly postponed so that another Commission of
Inquiry can conduct a secret investigation behind closed doors and
make a report, into which we have no input as of right, in nine or
eighteen months' time.

"We are entitled to the truth today- justice can follow in its wake,"
the statement said.

Read the full statement by Maurice and Lorraine McCabe released

Monday February 13, 2017

We have endured eight years of great suffering, private nightmare, public

defamation, and state vilification arising solely out from the
determination of Maurice to ensure that the Garda Siochana adheres to
decent and appropriate standards of policing in its dealings with the
Irish people.

Our personal lives and our family life, and the lives of our five children,
have been systematically attacked in a number of ways by agencies of
the Irish state and by people working for the state in those agencies.

These events have, one way or another, given rise to a long series of
state investigations, ranging from internal Garda investigations
(disciplinary and administrative), the Fennelly Commission, the
O'Higgins Commission, several GCOC investigations (some of them
targeted indirectly at Maurice), and investigations within HSE and Tusla
(some of them targeted at both of us and some of them concerning what
those agencies have done to us) and the reports of Sean Guerin SC and
former Judge larfhlaith O'Neill. All of these have taken place in private.

We have also been the subject of a long and sustained campaign to

destroy our characters in the eyes of the public, and public
representatives and in the eyes of the media.

Today, we have heard one Minister, Simon Harris, state that we are
entitled to "truth and justice".
We wish to make it clear that we are definitely not agreeable to that
entitlement being wholly postponed so that another Commission of
Inquiry can conduct a secret investigation behind closed doors and make
a report, into which we have no input as of right, in nine or eighteen
months' time.
We are entitled to the truth today- justice can follow in its wake.

The Need For A Public Inquiry

Our experience of the O'Higgins Commission of Investigation is too fresh
in our minds to allow for a repetition. Although that Commission
investigated a number of serious instances of malpractice in the policing
function in Bailieboro and upheld Maurice's complaints in respect of all
of them, the public has never been made aware that, throughout the
proceedings before that Commission, Maurice, at the hands of the legal
team representing the current Commissioner, was cast in the role of
culprit and/or defendant, and as a person making those complaints in
bad faith and without cause.
When challenged in that respect, that legal team sought and obtained
confirmation from the present Commissioner that they did so on her
personal instructions.

Because the 2004 Act prohibits under pain of criminal law the
publication of the actual evidence tendered to such Commissions, the
public has little or no appreciation of what was done, and attempted to
be done, to Maurice in the course of its hearings.
For example, against the background of the current Tusla controversy,
the entirely false allegation made of sexual abuse in 2006 against
Maurice was repeatedly the subject of attempts at introduction in the
proceedings for the purpose of discrediting his motives and testimony.

The entire transcript of that Commission (to which we still have access)
is also in the possession of the Minister for Justice and Equality and the
foregoing comments can easily be verified by inspecting same.

For these reasons, we have consistently submitted that any further

inquiry into these matters must be a public inquiry.

Now that the truth has emerged of the false and shocking campaign to
vilify us and discredit us, there is no reason to have any secret or private
inquiry under the 2004 Act.

The Truth Now:

August 2013
We are now aware from the Tusla file that when the latest version of the
false accusation of sexual abuse, now including an accusation of a rape
offence, was made in 2013, the HSE wrote to Supt. Noel Cunningham,
who had investigated the false claim in 2006, at Monaghan Garda
station on 15th August 2013, seeking a meeting to discuss the matter
"prior to making any contact with the alleged perpetrator''.
We are entitled to know now whether any such meeting or discussion
took place. If it did, the falsity of the rape offence allegation would have
been immediately apparent to Supt. Cunningham and the claimed "error"
would have been discovered immediately. Some record of any such
meeting or phone discussion and some record of that discussion, if it
occurred, must exist.

May 2014
We are also aware from the Tusla file that the HSE counsellor who had
filed the false accusation of a rape offence the previous August had been
"made aware" by a third party of the erroneous claim of a rape offence,
and had been contacted in a number of telephone calls by an un-named
person who informed her that the Superintendent at.Bailieboro had still
not been informed of the error and had been requested to meet and
discuss the case with the Garda Commissioner, who was by this time
Commissioner O'Sullivan. These calls can only have been made by
someone in An Garda Siochana with considerable knowledge of the
force's treatment of the rape offence allegation.
A solicitor has now informed the Sunday Times that his client was
contacted by the Gardai in May 2014 in connection with a complaint
alleged to have been made by her in 2013. The solicitor claims that it
was made clear to the Gardai that no fresh complaint had been made by
his client and that the 2013 report to the Gardai was done without her
authority or consent.

Simple Questions
We now want to have simple answers to the following questions:

Did the requested meeting or phone conversation with Supt.

Cunningham as sought by the HSE in August 2013 take place?

Who was/were the Gardai who made/received phone calls to/from the
HSE counsellor concerning the false rape offence allegation?

Who interviewed the alleged victim in respect of that allegation in May

2014 as claimed by her solicitor?

Was any of the foregoing Garda activity reported or recorded within An

Garda Siochana?

Was any of the foregoing Garda activity notified formally or informally

to senior Gardai at Commissioner level, and if not why not?

Was any decision made not to inform Maurice of the making of the
2013 allegation, and if so why and by whom?

These are simple factual questions to which we, and the Irish public, and
their representatives in Dail Eireann are entitled to simple factual
answers now.
These are also questions to which the Minister for Justice (under section
40 of the Garda Siochana Act, 2005), the Minister for Children (under
section 69 of the Childcare Act 1991) and the Minister for Health (under
section 10 of the Health Act 2004) are entitled to answers from the
Commissioner, Tusla and the HSE.

Given that false allegations of sexual abuse made against Maurice were
given wide currency by being leaked to the media and that they were
discussed in Dail Eireann on 19th June 2014, we are entitled to know
and to be informed by members of Dail Eireann acting on our behalf and
on behalf of all citizens concerned with the truth of these matters,
whether the present or former members of the Government (including
the Taoiseach, the persons acting as Minister for Justice and the Minister
for Children since 2013, or the Department of Justice) were briefed
formally or informally of the making of such allegations at any time by
the Garda Siochana, or by the Commissioner for the time being of An
Garda Siochana at any time since August 2013.

These are all matter which can be answered without any public inquiry
under statute. The answers, if truthfully given now, would not prejudice
any later inquiry and could well assist such an inquiry.

We know that the present Commissioner of An Garda Siochana has

claimed in public to be supportive of us while seeking ih private to
discredit Maurice McCabe before the O'Higgins Commission.

We have witnessed with growing disbelief her denials of involvement in

discrediting Maurice. If the foregoing questions are answered truthfully
and in public now, the public will be in a position to know who to
believe
The Childrens Minister has given a conflicting account of when the
Taoiseach first became aware that Tusla had involvement in Sgt
Maurice McCabes case.
The latest twist raises further questions about what the Government
knew about the scandal and is set to put additional pressure on what
is already a weak minority government.
Minister for Children Katherine Zappone has revealed that Enda
Kenny knew about Tuslas involvement in the whistleblowers case
before last Tuesdays Cabinet meeting.
I said that I had met with the McCabes, that we had discussed
allegations that were part of Tusla and that was the nature of the
conversation, Ms Zappone said. However, her claim flatly contradicts
the account of Mr Kenny, who said he knew nothing of Tuslas
involvement before it was revealed by the Irish Examiner and RTs
Prime Time on Thursday.
The differing accounts, which a spokesman for the Taoiseach could
not fully clarify last night, come after Tnaiste Frances Fitzgerald
became embroiled in a war of words with her Fianna Fil
counterpart, Jim OCallaghan, over the false allegations of child sex
abuse made against Sgt McCabe.
Katherine Zappone

Mr OCallaghan has insisted he is 100% certain that he told Ms

Fitzgerald about the scandal a day before it was publicly revealed
directly contradicting the Governments version of events.
Mr OCallaghan said he told Ms Fitzgerald about the Tulsa link three
or four times during their meeting on Wednesday.
When we sat down I said: Listen, theres an issue here, Prime Time
are doing a programme tomorrow night about a Tusla file, he told
RT Radios Today with Sean ORourke programme.
Im 100% certain that I did mention Tusla. That was the only reason
I was meeting her.
READ MORE: Maurice McCabe: Nothing but a public inquiry will do
However, like Mr Kenny, Ms Fitzgerald claimed she was unaware of
the Tusla link before the programme aired on Thursday night.
Ms Fitzgerald yesterday avoided further media questions by entering
and leaving through a back door at a Department of Justice prison
service event. Her spokesperson, however, said that both individuals
views are genuinely held and should not block an investigation.
Maurice McCabe

The conflicting views highlight the increasing instability within the

Cabinet and brings the spotlight back on the fragility of the current
minority Government.
Fianna Fil yesterday warned that the Government, which it is
propping up through the confidence and supply agreement, could
collapse unless the escalating controversy over whether senior
ministers knew about the Tusla link to Sgt Maurice McCabe before it
became public is resolved.
There is growing pressure for a public inquiry into an alleged
orchestrated smear campaign and attacks by agencies of the State
against Sgt Maurice McCabe, which the whistleblower says he and
his family endured during an eight-year nightmare.
Cabinet will meet today and is likely to scramble to set up the
inquiry in a bid to quell public anger and mounting criticism about
its handling of the controversy.
In a detailed statement, Sgt McCabe outlined what his family had
suffered, including false Tusla allegations that he was a child sex
abuser.
The child and family agency has admitted that, in a copy and paste
error, a file wrongly alleged that Sgt McCabe had molested a child, a
claim that remained on its database for a number of years.
This only emerged last week, as revealed by the Irish Examiner, and
after the Government had already debated terms for a commission of
investigation over an alleged garda-led campaign to undermine Sgt
McCabe. Political chaos has now erupted over who knew what about
the Tusla file.
In their statement, the McCabes said: We have endured eight years
of great suffering, private nightmare, public defamation and State
vilification arising solely out of the determination of Maurice to
ensure that the Garda Sochna adheres to decent and appropriate
standards of policing in its dealings with the Irish people.
Our personal lives and our family life, and the lives of our five
children, have been systematically attacked in a number of ways by
agencies of the Irish State and by people working for the State in
those agencies.
Sgt McCabe has now rejected the Governments offer of a sworn
inquiry in private, saying that truth and justice could not be
postponed while another lengthy investigation is held behind closed
doors.
READ MORE: OHiggins commission key to any probe regarding
alleged smear against Maurice McCabe
The intervention by the McCabes follows another dramatic day of
developments in Leinster House and in Government, where a series
of contradictions have deepened the crisis for Taoiseach Enda Kenny
and his administration.
Minister for Children Katherine Zappone has flatly contradicted Mr
Kennys claim he first became aware of the Tusla allegations
on Thursday. She says they were flagged two days previously;
A war of words has broken out between Fianna Fils Jim OCallaghan
and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald over whether the latter
was told about the Tusla file ahead of a Dil debate;
Garda Commissioner Nirn OSullivan has dismissed calls by
Government and opposition TDs for her to stand aside while
an inquiry is held;
The Government now faces a motion of no confidence which Sinn
Fin claims is needed to bring about fresh elections;
Backbench TDs are pushing for Mr Kenny to set out when he will
step aside amid concerns that Fine Gael will be caught if a
snap election is called;
Former garda press officer and whistleblower Spt Dave Taylor was
yesterday cleared of any wrongdoing or media leaking by the
DPP, a development which will add pressure to the Garda
Commissioners position.
The growing problems for Mr Kenny and his ministers are
threatening to collapse the minority government in the worst crisis it
has faced since entering power last May.
READ MORE: A fact-finding mission that would have to start from
scratch
The position of government partners Independent Alliance has also
yet to be made public, amid suggestions that Transport Minister
Shane Ross is livid over the Tusla fiasco.
Fianna Fil leader Michel Martin yesterday also put pressure on Ms
OSullivan to resign by claiming she should consider her position.
However, the garda chief, who strongly rejects any claim that she is
mixed up in a campaign against Sgt McCabe, came out fighting and
said she would not quit.
I have made it clear that I was not part of any campaign to spread
rumours about Sergeant McCabe and didnt know it was happening
at the time it was happening, she said. I have repeatedly refuted
that claim and do so again.
However, there are growing calls now for the commission of
investigation into the existence of a campaign to blacken Sgt
McCabes name to be carried out in public.
Fianna Fil, Sinn Fin, Labour, and the Social Democrats were among
those to back the whistleblowers call.
Housing Minister Simon Coveney said it seemed impossible to him
that it was a coincidence a clerical error had resulted in the
whistleblower being linked to a sex abuse allegation.
A government spokesman last night said that the issue of a public
inquiry would likely be considered by the Cabinet today.
Walter Scotts admonishment O, what a tangled web we weave
when first we practise to deceive! perfectly describes just one
layer of the now runaway McCabe scandal.

It does not capture the full price we pay for tolerating a society-wide
culture that is at best secretive, is routinely evasive, but, at its worst,
turns a blind eye to the dishonesty that perpetuates dysfunction and
failure in public life.
Sgt Maurice McCabe spoke to that sleazy culture yesterday when he
called for a public inquiry rather than the behind-closed-doors one
proposed. He said he and his family had been systemically attacked
by a number of state agencies and that his family had been the
subject of a long and sustained campaign to destroy its character.
There could hardly be more serious allegations made against state
agencies and, if proven, they should be recognised as acts of sedition
against this democracy. If Sgt McCabes charges are vindicated, the
consequences will be seismic, career ending and probably lead to
criminal prosecutions.
Most pertinently, Sgt McCabe showed he had learnt historys lessons
when he dismissed the proposed inquiry because that would mean a
secret investigation. He, after all, had his motives challenged by the
garda legal team at an earlier inquiry held behind closed doors.
Sgt McCabe is right to demand a public inquiry. The skeletons
dragged from the darkest cupboards over the last week demand the
truth be established in a public forum.
The institutions of the State and this is no reflection on Mr Justice
Peter Charleton who has yet to begin his work are so discredited,
so open to question that anything less would not be convincing. The
appalling charges demand nothing less if we are to make even a
passing nod towards the principle of transparency in public affairs.
The scandal has escalated and is no longer a policing or justice
issue. Consider the impact it is having on government capacity and
energy.
READ MORE: Maurice McCabe: Nothing but a public inquiry will do
Unknown Brexit threats; an imploding health service; the likelihood
that President Trumps policies will hit our economy, and a Stormont
election provoked by the hatreds that fuelled decades of terrorism
will get less attention than they demand. At the highest levels,
governments decision-making is compromised, if not on hold.
This morning those issues are framed in a shifting political reality,
one tottering towards an election. That possibility diminishes
Governments options and certainly reorders its priorities. Weekend
polls showing Fine Gael on 21% and Fianna Fil on 32% exacerbate
that reordering and reenergise a distracting subplot Taoiseach
Enda Kennys leadership and the appetite those who would succeed
him might have for a mano a mano challenge.
The diametrically opposed versions of a Leinster House conversation
between Tnaiste and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald and Fianna
Fil justice spokesman Jim OCallaghan seem the issue most likely to
end the arrangements sustaining the Government.
Mrs Fitzgeralds and Mr OCallaghans recollections are
irreconcilable; one must be wrong. Mr OCallaghan has warned that
unless a way forward can be found, the Government would collapse
this week. Both he and Ms Fitzgerald will expect the full support of
their leader which makes conflict inevitable.
Despite the shocking revelations, there is something even more
disconcerting about official Irelands response, a concern underlined
by Sgt McCabes call for a public hearing. A commission of inquiry
has limited powers and no power of sanction. Its conclusions cannot
be used as evidence and, most importantly, inquiry findings are
easily ignored.
Sadly, and challengingly, inaction on the findings of some earlier
inquiries, private or public, has occasionally rendered those reports,
and possibly that process meaningless. Equally, these get-todays-
crisis-off-the-agenda inquiries perfectly symbolise our relationship
with the idea that dishonesty destroys the better Angels of our
nature and the society that sustains us all.
Sgt McCabes call yesterday afternoon was informed by that
understanding. He should have a public inquiry, it is the very least
fairness demands especially as a public hearing would serve
honesty and all of our interests.
The events of recent days have thrown into sharp relief an earlier
alleged attempt to smear Sgt Maurice McCabe at the OHiggins
commisison.


Garda Maurice McCabe was publicly backed by the Commissioner

while being targeted at the O'Higgins Inquiry. Picture: Laura Hutton

THE transcripts published in this newspaper today show what

transpired on Day Two and Day Three of the OHiggins Inquiry in
relation to the claim that Garda Commissioner Nirn OSullivan
instructed her counsel that Sergeant Maurice McCabe acted with
malice.
Last night, RT reported that, at a much later stage, counsel for the
commissioner, Colm Smyth SC, made a clarification on his earlier
comments.
That included the correct assertion that Mr Smyth had never used
the word malice. This, as shown by the earlier transcripts, is correct.
The word was used by Judge OHiggins in attempting to clarify what
was being alleged.
According to last nights report the later transcript also shows that
Mr Smyth said he had made an error in asserting his instructions
were to attack McCabes integrity. He confirmed that he was
instructed to challenge motivation and credibility.
O'Higgins report- No slip of the tongue in earlier proceedings Wednesday, May
18, 2016 part 1
https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2838422/ie180516bridge.pdf
O'Higgins report- No slip of the tongue in earlier proceedings Wednesday, May
18, 2016 part 2
https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2838423/ie180516item1.pdf
And again: His motivation and his credibility in mounting these
allegations of corruption and malpractice, Mr Smyth said.
Later, Judge OHiggins asked: In other words, that he made these
allegations not in good faith but because he was motivated by
malice or some such motive and that impinges on his credibility. If
those are your instructions from the commissioner, so be it.
Mr Smyth replied: So be it that is the position, judge. Crucially, Mr
Smyth went on to say: Yes, as the evidence will demonstrate, judge.
O'Higgins report- No slip of the tongue in earlier proceedings Wednesday,
May 18, 2016 part 3
https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2838424/ie180516item2.pdf
There is no reason to doubt Mr Smyths later assertion that he made
an error in interpreting his instructions. He acted honourably to
make that clarification.
But something else did change in the days after this earlier
exchange.
The evidence changed. The evidence that was to go to attacking
McCabes motivation was a meeting he held with two officers in
Mullingar in 2008 at which he was alleged to have expressed
malice towards a senior officer as the motivation for pursuing his
complaints.
That was blown out of the water when McCabe produced a transcript
of the meeting in question. It related a cordial meeting where no
such malice or bad faith was expressed.
O'Higgins report- No slip of the tongue in earlier proceedings Wednesday,
May 18, 2016 part 4
https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2838426/ie180516item3.p
df
There was no further attempt to use that meeting as a means to
attack McCabes motivation. Whether the later exchange was
informed by this fact is a matter for conjecture.
Whether or not the word malice was used is not the central point.
The central point is that the commission was informed that the
meeting in question would go towards attacking McCabes
motivation and then when the tape recording appeared, that line of
attack was abandoned.
One wonders what fate would have befallen McCabe if he hadnt
recorded that meeting. His motivation and by extension his
integrity would have been undermined. The report may well have
had a very different outcome.
There would, in all likelihood, never have been any argument
subsequently over whether the word malice was used. Neither
would it have been necessary for Mr Smyth to clarify his earlier
submission.
It is entirely possible that Commissioner OSullivan was misinformed
about the contents of the disputed meeting. If so, she was placed in
an invidious position.
O'Higgins report- No slip of the tongue in earlier proceedings Wednesday,
May 18, 2016 part 5
https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2838427/ie180516item4.p
df
Such a scenario would have left her attacking Sergeant McCabe,
whom she had publicly lauded and promoted. It would have also left
her unintentionally presenting a case to the commission which was
based on a falsehood.
She may well have asked the officers in question why this issue was
only apparently surfacing for the first time at the commission, some
seven years after the meeting took place.
Yet, if that were so, there is no record of her taking any action
against the two officers who would have put her in that position. The
Irish Examiner understands she has had no contact with Sergeant
McCabe since the above events at the commission. She certainly
hasnt lifted the phone to apologise or explain to him what exactly
happened.
O'Higgins report- No slip of the tongue in earlier proceedings Wednesday,
May 18, 2016 part 6
https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2838428/ie180516item5.p
df
Last night, on RT it was also stated that, in the later transcript, Mr
Smyth clarified that his instructions to attack Sergeant McCabes
motivation was only in relation to the sergeants claims of corruption
against five senior officers.

According to transcripts, the Commissioners lawyer said he was

acting on her instruction on malice claims. Picture: Eamonn Farrell

This is not clear in the earlier transcript where he specifically stated

that his instructions were to attack McCabes motivation and his
credibility in mounting these allegations of corruption and
malpractice.
Notwithstanding that, the counsel did act in good faith and
honourably throughout.Equally, the later transcript does to some
extent explain why Judge OHiggins did not include in his report the
earlier attempt to attack Sgt McCabes motivation.
However, the question remains as to what would have happened if
Sergeant McCabe had not produced a tape recording of the meeting.
If you're wondering how we got to where we are now, breaksdown
the main points from the continuing controversy surrounding the
Garda Commissioner, whistleblower Maurice McCabe and the
OHiggins report

How did we get here?

A long and winding road from Bailieboro, Co Cavan. Sergeant
Maurice McCabe was station sergeant there. In 2007/2008 he made a
whole series of claims of malpractice, shoddy work, and poor
policing in the area.
Time and again he met brick walls in trying to have these matters
addressed.
Eventually, he handed a dossier to Michel Martin in 2014, which
ultimately led to the setting up of the OHiggins Commission of
Investigation, which reported a week ago, after some choice leaking.
Mr Justice Kevin OHiggins sang the praises of Sgt McCabe, but his
report was contradictory in places.
While he found against Sgt McCabe in some instances, his findings in
relation to the various cases where crime victims were badly served,
were in line with the sergeant claims.
This the penalty points fella?
The very same. He and former garda John Wilson made complaints
about senior garda abusing the penalty points system. Eventually
after much persistence, their claims were validated, they were
vindicated, and major change in the system was undertaken.
And what about the then justice minister Alan Shatter and the then
Garda commissioner Martin Callinan?
Both left in 2014 while mired in various controversies, including
those involving Sgt McCabe and Mr Wilson.
Mr Callinan had dug a hole for himself by describing the actions of
the pair as disgusting at an Oireachtas committee.
Months later, his political capital severely depleted, he retired after a
nudge from Taoiseach Enda Kenny.
Mr Shatter resigned as minister for justice six weeks later, when the
Guerin report a scoping inquiry that led to the setting up of the
OHiggins Commission reported that he had not acted properly in
dealing with Sgt McCabes claims. Judge OHiggins ultimately cleared
Mr Shatter, but it was two years too late.
The former minister spent a large part of last week relating his own
personal victim impact statement to the media.
Very confusing. Now we have Garda commissioner Nirn OSullivan
in the headlines.
Yep. Last Friday, the Irish Examiner reported that at the commission,
Ms OSullivans counsel said he was under instruction to attack Sgt
McCabes integrity and motivation.
This was despite the commissioner publicly praising Sgt McCabe and
even promoting him seven months before the commission hearing.
But why wasnt that reported at the time?
Commissions of investigation operate behind closed doors.
Somebody might have thought that word would never get out that
she was adopting that legal strategy towards Sgt McCabe.
And now?
Shes under political pressure to explain. She did issue a statement
last Monday where she accepted Sgt McCabe had not acted out of
malice, but that did not really address the main issues in any
meaningful way.
And what if she doesnt?
Then she will either resign or the whole thing will be swept under a
carpet.
Your bet?
The latter.
What will that mean for the force?
No change. As you were in a culture where the first instinct is to
circle the wagons. Once that is done everybody simply gets stuck
into hunting down the whistleblower and rendering him useless.
No way to run a police force?
Talk to the politicians. For years they have been happy to facilitate
such a culture.

Sgt Maurice McCabe made numerous allegations of malpractice in

garda investigations. Photo: Gareth Chaney

ACCORDING to the OHiggins report Maurice McCabe has done the

State some service.
But what of the treatment of McCabe within the force as he
attempted to have the serious issues of malpractice addressed?
OHiggins says that McCabe is a man of integrity, whom the public
can trust in the exercise of his duties.
He had acted out of genuine and legitimate concerns has shown
courage, and performed a genuine public service at considerable
personal cost.
The retired judge does say that McCabe was prone to exaggeration
in places, but put yourself in his shoes, running into brick walls and
rejection for seven years while he attempted to have the issues
addressed. Would you be prone to exaggeration at the end of all
that?
What stands out in the report in relation to McCabe is the treatment
that was meted out to him within the force while he was trying to
have the issues addressed.
OHiggins highlights five separate incidences in which there were
attempts to blame McCabe for poor policing or worse himself. Four
of those relate to cases he had brought to the attention of his
superior officers to be addressed.
The fifth, probably the most sinister, involved an attempt to blame
him for the disappearance of a computer seized from a priest who
was convicted of child sexual abuse.
In each case, OHiggins deems that McCabe was targeted in the
wrong. Where there was a conflict of evidence between McCabe and
other garda officers, OHiggins accepted McCabes version of events.
In relation to the most serious case that of Jerry McGrath who
went on to commit murder OHiggins reports that McCabe had
reason to believe that he was being set up and wrongly implicated.
The retired judge finds such fears unproven but one is ultimately
expected to accept that its merely coincidences that McCabe was
wrongly blamed in so many cases.
Jerry McGrath committed what was characterised as a vicious
assault on taxi driver Mary Lynch, in Virginia, Co Cavan, in 2007. He
was charged with a minor offence initially and released on station
bail. He subsequently attempted to abduct a child in Tipperary, but
was released on bail again. That court was not told that he was
already on bail in Cavan. He went on weeks later to murder Sylvia
Roche Kelly.

Sylvia Roche Kelly

In an earlier investigation, there was an attempt to blame Sgt

McCabe for releasing McGrath. The judge rejected that.
The commission accepts Sergeant McCabe had no role in the
investigation of the offences committed by Mr McGrath, nor in his
detention or release.
In Janaury 2008, when McGrath was due before the court on the
assault charge, Mary Lynch got a call telling her the matter wouldnt
be dealt with on the day in question. This denied Ms Lynch her day
in court when she may have aired her grievance on how the garda
had handled the matter.
One garda said he was instructed by McCabe to make the call.
McCabe emphatically denied this, and OHiggins preferred his
evidence to that of his colleague.
In a case of alleged sexual assault in Cootehill, a garda told the
OHiggins commission that McCabe had told her release the suspect
from custody.
OHiggins reported, It is unlikely that Sergeant McCabe would have
authorised the suspects release, before providing a detailed
explanation for his conclusion.
In a case of dangerous driving that had not been properly
investigated, there was an attempt to say that Sergeant McCabe
who complained about the investigation had actually conducted it
himself.
Sergeant McCabe did not take over the investigation from the
garda in Virginia nor was he asked to do so, OHiggins concluded.
The worst example was the missing computer. McCabe had no role
in the investigation, and did not take custody of the computer. Yet
when the computer went missing, a disciplinary inquiry was initiated,
which targeted him and him alone.
OHiggins concluded: It is difficult to understand why Sergeant
McCabe was the only person subjected to disciplinary proceedings
for the loss of the computer. The decision was based on a paper
review in which there was a clear conflict of fact. It was the first time
in a long career that he faced such proceedings. He was, quite
rightly, exonerated.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny speaks to the media last night. He says he has
not read the OHiggins report yet. Picture: Moya Nolan

That exoneration, however, only came after 18 months of a deeply

stressful time for him and his family.
OHiggins makes no connection or observes no pattern between the
five instances above.
He does note that many organisations are instinctively hostile to
whistleblowers. Any criticism from within is regarded as suspect,
disloyal or even treacherous, he reports.
Whether that kind of attitude informed the attempts to blame Sgt
McCabe for some of the malpractice that he had dragged into the
light is not a subject the chair of the commission explored.
Members of the public will have to make up their own minds.
Why has the OHiggins report into cases of alleged garda malpractice
in criminal investigations in the Cavan/Monaghan division not yet
been published?, asks Irish Examiner columnist,

Maurice McCabe

It is now two weeks since the report landed on the desk of the
Minister for Justice and still no sign of it.
The report is the outcome from the OHiggins Commission of
Investigation, chaired by former High Court judge Kevin OHiggins. It
was established to investigate a series of cases of alleged garda
malpractice in criminal investigations in the Cavan/Monaghan
division.
These came about following complaints from Sergeant Maurice
McCabe, who had served as station sergeant in Bailiboro, Co Cavan.
The report is important on a number of fronts. In the first instance,
Alan Shatter was forced to resign as Minister for Justice on foot of
the scooping report that preceded OHiggins, conducted by barrister
Sean Guerin.
Mr Shatter has called for the immediate publication of OHiggins to
finally remove, as he sees it, a stain on his reputation that was
delivered by Guerin.
Alan Shatter

Sergeant McCabe is in the same boat to some extent. Since 2007, he

endured ferocious opposition to his lonely stance from within the
force. It has been acknowledged that he and his family have suffered
enormously because he pursued the complaints within the force
when he felt they werent properly addressed, and then he pursued
another legal route outside the force to have the matter addressed.
He is understood to want the whole thing finally out in the open.
The former garda commissioner Martin Callinan is another awaiting
the publication. Other members of the gardai who were involved in
the cases, and senior officers who conducted the internal
investigation into Sergeant McCabes complaints are also waiting to
have a cloud lifted from their conduct.
On the face of it, there seems to be little reason to prolong the
agony. The day after Frances Fitzgerald received the report, she
brought it to cabinet, which argreed to refer the matter to the
Attorney General. The only possible impediment to publication
would be the prospect of interfering with any future criminal case.
Such a possibility is very remote. All of the criminal cases under
review are historic, dating from 2007 and 2008. All have been dealt
with through the system. The matter at issue is how they were dealt
with. Irrespective of any outcome, none of them will be re-entering
the criminal justice system.
Apart from the implications for those who are involved in the matter
at issue, there is another, more pressing reason for publication. In
the vacuum that exists, elements of the report have been leaked out
to sway public opinion one way or another.
This is standard fare in scenarios such as this. First impressions tend
to be the most lasting. OHiggins runs to 360 pages and if the report
follows a trend of a careful judicial balancing act, there may well be
something positive for all concerned parties.
Anybody listening to Morning Ireland and the News At One on RTE
Radio 1 yesterday would have heard a of the report. The stations
crime correspondent, Paul Reynolds, has had sight of the document
and he delivered extensive coverage.
Both segments were preceded with a headline that the report has
stated allegations of corruption within the force were rejected by
OHiggins. Mr Reynolds contributions placed at least as much
emphasis on what appears to be criticism of Sergeant McCabe as it
did on the transgressions that the sergeant had complained about.
The casual listener might have concluded that the complaints now
sound like much ado about a few errant and inexperienced grands of
ordinary rank. An impression might also linger that McCabe blew the
whole issue out of proportion, despite the best efforts of more senior
officers to diligently address his concerns in a manner befitting a
professional police force.
It will indeed be a major surprise if such an impression survives
publication, but we simply dont know until everything is out in the
open.
What we do know is that those who hold positions of power tend to
be well practiced in the art of spinning in a vacuum.
The most cogent example of such spinning in recent times was that
performed by Enda Kenny and his entourage just ahead of the
publication of the Fennelly interim report last September.
Fennelly was briefed with examining the circumstances surrounding
the departure from office of former commissioner Callinan in April
2014. There were accusations based on credible evidence that
Enda Kenny had sacked the commissioner without due process or
cause. If such an accusation was proved it would have ended Kennys
political career.
Martin Callinan

Fennelly delivered his report to the Taoiseach on September 30. The

following day, hours before publication, Mr Kenny announced that he
was confident of vindication.
He then issued an electronic statement at 5.22pm, attached to a
copy of the report. The statement proclaimed his innocence.
I welcome the reports clear and unambiguous finding that the
question of removing the former commissioner from his position was
not even discussed, Mr Kenny said.
The report confirms that the former commissioner decided tdo
retire, and that he could have decided otherwise.
This was a spun version of what was within the report. Fennellys
conclusions were much more nuanced. Yet Mr Kenny got out his
version of the truth first. And guess what? The reporters couldnt
access the attached report to find out the full truth because the
system broke down.
Half an hour later, Mr Kenny went on the Six OClock News to re-
affirm his innocence with selective reference to Fennelly before
Bryan Dobson could have even got his teeth into the report.
IT was days before proper analysis of the report demonstrated that
Kennys claim of vindication was highly qualified.
Something similar may be going on now in the absence of the
publication of OHiggins. Only publication will tell whether all is as
honky dorey as some media reports are claiming. In the meantime,
the full truth is suffering in a vacuum.

The way in which the OHiggins report was released to the public
again belies official claims of a new era of openness and
transparency in justice and policing.
This reality is reflected in the opening pages of the OHiggins report,
eventually published at noon yesterday. Mr Justice Kevin OHiggins
says the compliance with the obligation to provide documentation
by the garda was unsatisfactory.
He says the fact these documents were readily available at
Bailieboro Garda Station the epicentre of this investigation
made this failure disappointing and difficult to understand. The
former High Court judge says while there was not a deliberate lack
of co-operation, the commission expected better from An Garda
Sochna.
Sergeant McCabe is, the judge tells us, the central figure in the
commissions investigation.
Follow

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@merrionstreet
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On one hand, he could not heap greater praise: He is dedicated;
committed; a person who has done the public service in highlighting
investigations where people were not well served.
The judge notes that all the events had been extremely stressful for
him and his family over a long period of time.
Mr OHiggins states: Sergeant McCabe impressed the commission as
being never less than truthful in his evidence, even if prone to
exaggeration at times.
Regarding Sgt McCabes complaints, he says some have been
upheld, especially those in relation to the quality of the
investigations. Other complaints, he says, had been proven to be
overstated or exaggerated.

Some were unfounded, some of which had been withdrawn.

The judge says that some people wrongly and unfairly have cast
aspersions on Sgt McCabes motives.
Sergeant McCabe acted out of genuine and legitimate concerns and
the commission unreservedly accepts his bona fides, the judge
states.
He had shown courage and was a man of integrity.
The judge concentrates his criticisms of the whistleblower in relation
to allegations of corruption against the then commissioner Martin
Callinan, Assistant Commissioner Derek Byrne (who conducted an
internal investigation of his complaints) and his local superiors, Chief
Superintendent Colm Rooney, Superintendent Michael Clancy; and
an implied allegation against Supt Noel Cunningham.
In all cases, the commission finds those hurtful complaints
unfounded. Supt Clancy, the subject of numerous allegations by Sgt
McCabe, is exonerated of any wrongdoing.
The commission is critical of aspects of the internal investigation by
Assistant Commissioner Byrne and Chief Supt Terry McGinn.
The commission considers that there was a corporate closing of
ranks, though it adds this was not done consciously or
deliberately.
The judge compliments both Assistant Commissioner Byrne and
Chief Supt McGinn and says that very considerable resources over
two years went into investigating the complaints.
Elsewhere, the commission states the Byrne/McGinn report and the
review of it by Deputy Commissioner Nacie Rice were deficient.
In contrast to the Guerin report, the OHiggins report finds no fault
with the former justice minister Alan Shatter in how he handled the
matter.
The judge sandwiches his examination of failings in Bailieboro with
some context. He says it would be quite wrong to view his findings
as indicative of the general quality of policing in the area. He says
the commission heard evidence of, and accepts that there was,
much good work performed.
The report outlines in detail the failings of the eight investigations
Sean Guerin SC had recommended in his initial review of McCabes
complaints and two wider issues on Pulse incidents and general
policing in Bailieboro district.
The commission found many instances where the garda failed in
the performance of their duties, says the report. These failures
would probably have been avoided if principles of personal
responsibility, communication, supervision and performance
management had been applied.
The report says there were five probationers (just-appointed garda)
per regular unit at Bailieboro and that in some units there was only
one experienced garda available.
It says poor communication between probationers and sergeants was
both their fault, but that ineffective supervision lay at the door of
sergeants.
On top of that was the lack of an inspector: It is probable that many
of the matters that are criticised by this commission would not have
occurred or would have been rectified at an early stage if there had
been an inspector at Bailieboro.
The commission says the conditions at Bailieboro were deplorable
and that this was known to Garda management for a long time.
Again, the judge hammers home: However, those conditions were
not the cause of the deficiencies and failures in the investigations
found by this commission. They were due to the failures of
individuals to carry out their duties properly.
He adds: The failures were at a human level and caused by poor
individual performance and, in many instances, by poor supervision.
There are few cases where the failings are as stark as in that of Jerry
McGrath, who murdered Sylvia Roche Kelly while on bail for a
savage assault on Mary Lynch in Cavan and, separately, on bail for
attempted abduction of a child in Tipperary.
What makes the Kellys experience of the garda all the more painful
is an 18-month wait by her husband Lorcan to a response to his
letter asking why his wifes killer was on bail.
Amid all that was a worrying entanglement of Sergeant McCabe in
the case, which the whistleblower thought was an attempt by some
garda to implicate him.

The judge says this cannot be safely said, which, unsatisfactorily,

leaves a lingering doubt.
Concluding, the judge says he hopes the report will enable garda in
the area to put the unhappy events behind them, which is a curious
choice of words, given the McGrath case alone.
The judge talks of the garda learning lessons where appropriate
and reminds them of their solemn declaration as garda.
Then, he ends: Bearing the foregoing in mind, and in the very
particular circumstances pertaining, the commission considers that
the institution of any disciplinary proceedings, which might
conceivably arise out of the findings, would not be helpful.
He does not expand on his reasoning here, nor does he balance what
might be helpful, with what might be just.
Garda Commissioner Nirn OSullivan claimed Sgt Maurice McCabe
was motivated by malice when he highlighted malpractice in the
force, documents from the OHiggins Commission of Inquiry show.
Garda Commissioner Nirn OSullivan is under fire from the
opposition to clarify exactly why she tried to impugn Sgt Maurice
McCabes character at the OHiggins Commission.

Yesterday, the Irish Examiner revealed that documents to the

OHiggins inquiry show Ms OSullivan claimed Sgt Maurice McCabe
was motivated by malice when he highlighted malpractice in the
force while praising his actions in public.
Fianna Fil leader Michel Martin hit out at the commissioners
reported attempt to call into question Sgt McCabes raising of
allegations of wrongdoing within the force in her legal dealings with
the OHiggins inquiry. Mr Martin has called on the commissioner to
clarify her actions in relation to Sgt McCabe at the earliest
opportunity.
Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Mr Martin said: The report that there
was an attempt made to impugn Maurice McCabes character and
motivation at the OHiggins Commission is disappointing, disturbing
and cannot be left unexplained. I think it would be useful for the
Garda commissioner to clarify the report at the earliest opportunity.
A Garda spokesperson said the commissioner was statute barred
from commenting on the commission.
Senior counsel for Ms OSullivan claimed initially that evidence
would be produced to show that Sgt McCabe had told two other
officers that he was making his complaints because of malice he
harboured towards a senior officer.

Maurice McCabe

The inquiry was informed that the two officers took notes at the
meeting in question.
Sgt McCabe later informed Mr OHiggins he had a tape recording of
the meeting in question, and following a review of that recording, no
evidence to show malice was called from the two officers who were
at the meeting.
The Labour Party has also called for clarity as to whether the two
officers who made the allegation are to face any consequence for
their actions.
Speaking to the Irish Examiner, a party spokesperson said: Clarity is
needed as to whether the two officers referred to in the Irish
Examiner story face any consequences for apparently making an
allegation that was apparently immediately dropped in the face of
irrefutable evidence.
Independent TD Mick Wallace, who, along with fellow Independent
Clare Daly, has been to the fore of raising justice issues since 2012,
said the story proved that nothing has changed in the culture of
Garda management.
Alan Shatter, the former minister, and the former commissioner
Martin Callinan went in 2014, but nothing has changed in the
garda, said Mr Wallace. It is as difficult being a whistleblower in
the garda in 2016 as it was four years ago.
Mr Wallace also criticised the failure of Tnaiste and Justice Minister
Frances Fitzgerald to bring forward what he called genuinely
reforming legislation to modernise the police force.

A spokesman for Ms Fitzgerald said there is no question of issues of

confidence in the Garda commissioner arising.

At the very early stages, the inquiry was told by senior counsel for
Ms OSullivan that evidence would be produced to show that Sgt
McCabe had told two other officers that he was making his
complaints because of malice he harboured towards a senior officer.
The inquiry was informed that the two officers had taken notes at
the meeting in question and prepared a report which was forwarded
to a senior officer.
However, a few days after the submission, Sgt McCabe informed Mr
OHiggins he had a tape recording of the meeting in question.
The commission took possession of the recording and arranged for a
transcript to be created.
Mr OHiggins indicated that the transcript coincided precisely with
Sgt McCabes version of events and was in conflict with the
allegation that he had told the two officers he was motivated by
malice.

Maurice McCabe

Following that, no evidence to show malice was called from the two
officers who were at the meeting.
However, the failed attempt to impugn Sgt McCabes character did
not appear in the OHiggins report. The retired judge stated that Sgt
McCabe was an entirely truthful witness and his bona fides were
fully accepted.
The documents show that, at the commission, Mr OHiggins asked
the commissioners lawyer whether you are attacking his [McCabes]
motivation and attacking his character.
The reply from Colm Smyth, SC, was: Right the way through.
He told the judge that he was acting on instructions.
Sgt McCabes counsel, Michael McDowell, objected in the strongest
terms to the course being taken by Ms OSullivan.
Attacking one of our own members of our force who is in uniform
and on oath when in circumstances where in public she promoted
him to a professional standards unit, and in public she has indicated
that she accepts that he was acting in good faith et cetera, et cetera,
and in private she sends in a legal team to excoriate him.

Nirn OSullivan

At the inquiry, the commissioner was represented by the same

counsel as two of the officers against whom Sgt McCabe had made
allegations.
A Garda spokesperson said the commissioner was barred by statute
from commenting on the commission.
In May 2014, then acting commissioner Ms OSullivan told a joint
Oireachtas committee that Sgt McCabe had the full support of garda
management.
In September 2014, after Sgt McCabe raised further concerns about
the penalty points system, the commissioner appointed him to the
Professional Standards Unit to assist in reforming the system.
The OHiggins report published on Wednesday described Mr McCabe
as a dedicated and committed officer. It said the sergeant was a
person who acted out of genuine and legitimate concern and that
the commission unreservedly accepts his bona fides.
The inquiry vindicated former justice minister Alan Shatter, who had
resigned after criticism of him in the Guerin Report, which preceded
OHiggins.

Guerin report
Why was it set up?:
Barrister Sean Guerin was asked in February 2013 by the
Government to review allegations of incompetence and misconduct
highlighted by Sgt Maurice McCabe.
This decision came after Fianna Fil leader, Michel Martin,
controversially raised Sgt McCabes claims in the Dil. Sgt McCabes
allegations included malpractice in relation to the Pulse computer
system, in the handling of an assault and child abduction case , a
clerical sex abuse and pornography case, and several public order
incidents.
What it found:
The Guerin report found that garda and the former justice minister,
Alan Shatter, failed to properly investigate allegations of corruption
and malpractice in the force. It also found that the garda, Garda
Ombudsman, and Department of Justice officials failed to act
properly on complaints made by the sergeant and that Sgt McCabe
suffered as a result.
It found the department accepted the gardas response to the claims
without question. It also found that a statutory commission of
investigation was necessary to probe the rest of the alleg-ations
made by Sgt McCabe.
OHiggins report:
Why was it set up?:
The OHiggins commission was established as a result of the Guerin
report so allegations in the Cavan-Monaghan area could be
investigated. Eight particular cases were examined by the
commission of investigation:
Tnaiste and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald TD addresses the
media at Government Buildings following the publication of the
OHiggins report. Picture: Gareth Chaney Collins

What it found:
The commission upheld a number of of Sgt McCabes complaints
concerning serious flaws and failings in eight specific criminal
investigations.
It found no evidence to substantiate claims of any corruption by
garda serving there.
Sgt McCabe was commended as a man of integrity, a dedicated and
committed member of An Garda Siochna.
It found that former justice minister Alan Shatter had taken Sgt
McCabes complaints very seriously and his resulting actions were
entirely reasonable and appropriate as he had reservations about
some of them.
The report states that the whistleblower was never less than truthful,
although he was prone to exaggeration on occasion.
The investigation identified serious deficiencies in the Cavan district,
where inexperienced and probationer officers were left to
investigate crimes without adequate supervision.
The report found the former Garda commissioner Martin Callinan and
the Department of Justice handled complaints made by
whistleblower Maurice McCabe in a professional and appropriate
manner at all times.
The victims of crime had not been well served by the force or the
Garda Sochna Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) and much of the
failings was down at a human level and caused by poorly supervised
individuals.
Alan Shatter slams Guerin report
Jun 19, 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3cH6H4X9dg
GSOC_Annual_Report_2014 ANNUAL REPORT- 2014. 3 Contents ... known as
the Guerin Report,
https://www.gardaombudsman.ie/docs/publications/GSOC_Annual_Repor
t_2014.pdf

Garda whistleblower John Wilson: The

contents of the Guerin report are truly
disgusting
May 9 2014

1
Garda whistleblower John Wilson
Garda whistleblower John Wilson has said
he is in no doubt that Sylvia Roche Galvin
would be alive today but for certain
members of the Garda Siochana.
The 300-plus page Guerin review which was published
this afternoon, strongly criticised the Garda, the Garda
Ombudsman and the Department of Justice for failing to
heed the word of Sergeant Maurice McCabe after he first
raised concerns in September 2012.
The case of Sylvia Roche Galvin, the mother-of-two who
was murdered by Jerry McGrath when was out on bail in
December 2007.
Only eight months earlier, McGrath been arrested for a
brutal attack on taxi driver Mary Lynch in Cavan, and has
been highlighted as one of the many serious criticisms of
the force.
This marks a very dark day for An Garda Siochana,
Wilson told Matt Cooper on The Last Word.
I find the contents of the Guerin report to be disgusting,
truly disgusting.
Wilson offered his sympathies to the family of Sylvie
Roche Kelly and believes that Garda intervention would
have saved her life.
I have no doubt that Sylvie Roche Kelly would be alive
today only for certain members of the Garda Siochana,
the former Garda added.
Commissioner Noirn OSullivan commented today on the
publication of the report by Mr Sean Guerin SC:
"The report by Mr Sean Guerin SC is detailed and
extensive, and I am currently studying it closely in
conjunction with my senior management team to identify
immediate actions that can be taken as part of our process
of change that is currently underway.
As the Minister for Justice & Equality Frances Fitzgerald
TD said today, 'An Garda Sochna is fully committed to a
sea change in its culture and to re-new and re-invigorate
the organisation'.
An Garda Sochna will fully co-operate and facilitate the
commission of investigation in its examination of the
serious issues raised by the report."
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/garda-whistleblower-john-wilson-
the-contents-of-the-guerin-report-are-truly-disgusting-30260565.html

Child protection chief

denies whistleblower sex
abuse claim was
malicious

1
Garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe was falsely accused of
sexually abusing a colleague's daughter
There is no evidence child protection
workers acted with "malice of intent" in the
Garda whistleblower scandal, the head of
the state child agency has said.
Tusla is among those being investigated over its role in an
alleged smear campaign against Sergeant Maurice
McCabe, in a controversy that has brought the government
close to collapse.
The agency had a file containing false allegations of sexual
abuse against Mr McCabe, at a time when he was exposing
wrongdoing within the force.
Fred McBride, chief executive of Tusla, confirmed it began
"formally engaging" with the public tribunal set up to
probe the affair on Tuesday.
Before a parliamentary committee, he said he was
restrained on how much he could say about matters under
investigation by the inquiry, headed by Supreme Court
judge Peter Charleton.
"But I think it is important to point out that I have no
knowledge or evidence that Tusla staff acted with any
malice of intent," he said.

Tusla chief reiterates apology over mistakes in

whistleblower case
"I also wish to make it clear that if I did receive - or in any
time in the future receive - such evidence or information, I
will intervene personally and immediately and publicly."
Mr McBride added that "mistakes were made" and that the
agency was looking forward to addressing the affair "in its
totality" during the public inquiry.
"Indeed, as far as I'm concerned the inquiry can't come
soon enough, in order that all the facts are known and
responsibility and accountability can be properly and
fairly attributed," he said.
Mr McBride told the Joint Committee on Children and
Youth Affairs that dealing with historical abuse allegations
was particularly challenging for the agency.
This is when an adult comes forward to disclose abuse as a
child.
"It is especially challenging because the legal framework
around this is not specific enough," he said, adding that
the agency needed more expertise and skills in the area.
Sgt McCabe was at the centre of an unfounded and false
report on a Tusla file of an allegation of sex abuse against a
colleague's daughter.
A counsellor working on behalf of the agency had claimed
the error was made when details from a different case
were cut and pasted on to a file.
Mr McBride said he wanted to reiterate an apology "to
people affected by our mistakes and for the distress and
upset they have endured".
He added: "I accept that public confidence in the system
may well have been undermined because of that.
"But what has happened here is not reflective, I think, of
the high standards that staff hold themselves to, or that I
as chief executive hold them to - particularly in relation to
the handling of sensitive information."
However, the Tusla chief admitted shortcomings in the
agency's computer and record keeping systems.
"Do we have confidence in our IT system? I'm afraid the
answer to that is 'not yet'," he told the parliamentary
committee.
Mr McBride said Tusla had inherited a number of different
record keeping systems from the Health Service Executive
and it was attempting to establish a new national system.
It is hoped this would be fully operational by next year, he
said.
The agency had identified its information technology
shortcomings as "one of our top risks", he told TDs and
senators.
Mr McBride also accepted it could be difficult for the
agency to immediately discover if someone had
deliberately created malicious information on their
system.
This would only be discovered during a "deeper level of
assessment", he added.
The Tusla chief also confirmed the Data Protection
Commissioner had been in contact with them about an as
yet unclear investigation or audit into the agency's
systems.
http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/irish-news/child-protection-
chief-denies-whistleblower-sex-abuse-claim-was-malicious-
35472838.html

31 apply to policing body for assistant

garda commissioner post
More than 30 people have applied for the rank of assistant garda
commissioner in the first position to be filled by the Policing
Authority since it got the power at the beginning of the year.
Thursday, February 23, 2017

Assistant Commissioner Michael O'Sullivan retired this month.

The authority opened the position up to officers of rank of inspector
and above, and yesterday confirmed it had received applications
from all eligible ranks.
Some 31 people applied for the position and will now undergo a
series of stages.
The authority expects the selection process will be completed by the
end of March.
There are currently seven assistant commissioners in the
organisation.
Under the Employee Control Framework, set by the Department of
Public Expenditure, the organisation has sanction for eight assistant
commissioners.
The retirement this month of Assistant Commissioner Michael
OSullivan, based at Garda HQ, reduced the number to seven.
In a statement to the Irish Examiner, the authority said the selection
process may involve shortlisting of candidates based on information
supplied, preliminary interview for shortlisted candidates and a
competitive interview including a presentation.
A spokesperson would not say if there were any applications from
outside police forces, such as the PSNI.
The pressure on assistant commissioner ranks will continue in the
coming months.
Assistant Commissioner Jack Nolan, in charge of the Dublin Region,
is due to retire in April and Assistant Commissioner John OMahoney,
head of Crime and Security, is expected to leave by June.
The authority has plans to launch competitions for those vacant
positions.
There are currently 44 chief superintendents (ECF: 45) and the filling
of the three assistant commissioner positions will create knock-on
vacancies.
The Policing Authority has responsibility for the promotion of garda
to the ranks of superintendent, chief superintendent and assistant
commissioner.
The authority also conducts the selection process for deputy
commissioner and commissioner and nominates a candidate for the
Government, which makes the final decision.
The commissioner makes appointments, following an internal
system, to the ranks of sergeant and inspector.
The organisations largest staff body, the Garda Representative
Association, yesterday repeated its criticism of the promotion system
within the garda.
Nepotism and pull are alive and well, despite the buzzwords of
accountability, transparency and independence that speckle every
statement and paid lip service in every round of competition, said
the editorial in the Garda Review, the journal of the GRA, which
represents more than 10,000 rank and file garda.
The details come as Garda Commissioner Nirn OSullivan appears
before the Policing Authority today in their first public meeting since
the latest allegations in relation to the treatment of Sergeant
Maurice McCabe emerged and now subject to a public inquiry.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/31-apply-to-policing-body-for-
assistant-garda-commissioner-post-443542.html




R2W agrees charging for excess water use
Feb 21, 2017
R2W Oireachtas Committee on Funding Domestic Water Feb 21 2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3osGZb5mUK0&feature=youtu.be
Swine-origin influenza A(H3N2) variant influenza
viruses in North America
Summary
Cases of a new variant virus of swine origin, influenza A(H3N2) virus termed
H3N2v associated with contact with pigs have been reported in the United
States this summer. At the current time, the threat of infection to the European
(including Irish) population is assessed as very low. Monitoring and
preparedness are essential as this assessment may change in the future.
Update in USA
Human infections with influenza A(H3N2)v (which includes a genetic
component from the 2009 pandemic virus) have been reported in the United
States since July 2011. Between July 2011 and April 2012, 13 cases were
reported. However, from July 12 to August 23, 2012, a total of 276 infections
with H3N2v virus have been reported in 10 states (Hawaii [1], Illinois [4],
Indiana [138], Maryland [12] Michigan [5], Minnesota [1], Ohio [98],
Pennsylvania [6], West Virginia [3], and Wisconsin [8]). So far during the
current outbreaks, 13 confirmed cases have been hospitalised as a result of
their illness and no deaths have occurred. At this time no sustained ongoing
human-to-human transmission has been identified. Public health and
agriculture officials in the USA are investigating the extent of disease among
humans and pigs, and additional cases are likely to be identified as the
investigation continues.
The majority of the persons infected had direct contact with pigs or attended
an agricultural fair where pigs were present. However, some limited human-
to-human transmission has been reported in households and in a child care
setting. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta
expects that cases will continue to be detected including some due to human-
to-human transmission.
The majority of infections occurred in children and adolescents under 18
years and serological studies show that younger children are more
susceptible. Most of the cases resulted in mild symptoms similar to
uncomplicated seasonal influenza infection, such as fever, cough, pharyngitis,
rhinorrhoea, myalgia and headache. Influenza A(H3N2)v infections can
therefore not be distinguished in their clinical features from seasonal
influenza.
The current seasonal influenza vaccines are unlikely to provide protection. On
a precautionary basis an influenza A(H3N2)v reassortant vaccine strain has
been developed in the USA for use in production of influenza A(H3N2)v
vaccines, if needed. Clinical trials evaluating the immunological response and
safety of such vaccine candidates are planned in the coming months.
Europe
In EU/EEA Member States, influenza A(H3N2)v viruses have not been
identified in pigs to date, and no human influenza A(H3N2)v virus infections
have been reported. Therefore, there is currently no known risk of becoming
infected with H3N2v viruses in Europe (EU/EEA countries).
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) published
a risk assessment Swine-origin triple reassortant influenza A(H3N2) variant
viruses in North America on August 17th which is available here. It is possible
that these variant virus infections will appear in Europe, particularly if there is
more human-to-human transmission or travellers visiting US agricultural
exhibitions, which could lead to imported cases. It is important to ensure that
there is at least capacity in one national centre for detecting these viruses in
EU/EEA countries. ECDC and the Community Network of Reference
Laboratories (CNRL) have initiated work to assess and strengthen laboratory
capacity in Europe for detecting influenza A(H3N2)v, should it appear in
persons in Europe.
Advice regarding Irish travellers to the USA
As transmission of the disease is mainly related to direct contact with infected
pigs, Irish travellers to the affected states in the USA (Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana,
Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and
Wisconsin) who have contact with pigs on farms or visit agricultural
exhibitions may be at risk of being infected. Persons who are at higher risk of
influenza complications including those aged 65 years or older, young
children and those with chronic medical conditions should avoid exposure to
pigs and to persons who are ill following exposure to pigs while in the USA. If
exposure to pigs in the USA cannot be avoided, persons at higher risk of
influenza complications should consider wearing appropriate personal
protective equipment.
In the event of returning Irish travellers developing influenza-like symptoms
after exposure to pigs in the USA (within 5-7 days of onset of illness),
clinicians should consider and sample for the influenza A(H3N2)v viruses. The
National Virus Reference Laboratory (NVRL) can undertake viral
investigations to detect the virus if required. Clinical management of influenza
A(H3N2)v as recommended by CDC is similar to the management of
seasonal influenza A or B virus infections. The current Irish Guidance on the
infection control measures and the use of anitivirals should be applied -
available at http://www.hpsc.ie/hpsc/A-
Z/Respiratory/Influenza/SeasonalInfluenza/.
Other Links
CDC:
Information on Influenza A (H3N2) Variant Viruses (H3N2v) on CDC website
here and also http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly
Evaluation of Rapid Influenza Diagnostic Tests for Influenza A (H3N2)v
Virus and Updated Case Count United States, 2012-August 17th
HPSC: Information on influenza here

Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP)

Framework
http://www.who.int/influenza/pip/PIP_FQA_Nov_2011.pdf
Swine-origin triple reassortant influenza A(H3N2) variant viruses in North
America 17 August 2012 in Animals
http://ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications/Publications/1208-TER-Rapid-
risk-assessment-influenza-AH3N2-US.pdf

Guidance on Viral Rash in

Pregnancy
Investigation, Diagnosis and Management of Viral Rash Illness, or
Exposure to Viral Rash Illness, in Pregnancy.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_d
ata/file/322688/Viral_rash_in_pregnancy_guidance.pdf

U.S-Acquired Human Rabies with Symptom Onset and

Diagnosis Abroad, 2012

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/wk/mm6139.pdf
HPV (Human Papillomavirus) VIS
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/vis/vis-statements/hpv.pdf
vaccination providers regarding use of 9-valent HPV A 9-valent
human papillomavirus (HPV)
https://www.cdc.gov/hpv/downloads/9vhpv-guidance.pdf


HPV Vaccine (Gardasil) is Safe

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/pdf/data-summary-hpv-gardasil-
vaccine-is-safe.pdf
vacsafe-vaers-color-office VAERS was created in 1990 in response to the
National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act. If any health problem happens after
vaccination, anyone - doctors, nurses, vaccine manufacturers
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/patient-
ed/conversations/downloads/vacsafe-vaers-color-office.pdf

Influenza Vaccine Data from the

U.S. Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)

https://vaers.hhs.gov/resources/SeasonalFluSummary_2015-2016.pdf

The Warnings and Precautions section of the LAIV package insert (Influenza Vaccine

https://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/Appro
vedProducts/UCM294307.pdf
Contraindications*- Severe allergic reaction to any vaccine component,
including egg protein, or after previous dose of any influenza vaccine.
Precautions
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pdf/protect/vaccine/influenza-vaccines-table-
2015-16.pdf
childhood vaccines used routinely in the United States that contain
thimerosal (mercury) are flu vaccines in multi-dose vials. These vials have
very tiny amounts of thimerosal as a preservative. This is necessary
because each time an individual dose is drawn from a multi-dose vial with
a new needle and syringe
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/conversations/downloads/vacsafe-
thimerosal-color-office.pdf
new england journal of medicine, Thimerosal Exposure and
Neuropsychological Outcomes at 7 to 10 Years
http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa071434

The Joint Committee met at 17:00

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Information on James Lawless Zoom on James Lawless

Deputy James Lawless, Information on Terry Leyden Zoom
on Terry Leyden Senator Terry Leyden.
Information on Michael Lowry Zoom on Michael Lowry Deputy
Michael Lowry,
Information on Eamon Ryan Zoom on Eamon Ryan Deputy
Eamon Ryan,
Information on Brian Stanley Zoom on Brian Stanley Deputy
Brian Stanley,

Information on Hildegarde Naughton Zoom on Hildegarde

Naughton DEPUTY HILDEGARDE NAUGHTON IN THE CHAIR.

The joint committee met in private session until 17.28 p.m.

Scrutiny of EU Legislative Proposals

Chairman: Information on Hildegarde Naughton Zoom on
Hildegarde Naughton I remind Members and witnesses to turn
off their mobile phones as they interfere with the sound
system, make it difficult for parliamentary reporters to report
the meeting and adversely affect television coverage and web
streaming.

I draw the attention of the witnesses to the fact that, by

virtue of section 17(2)(l) of the Defamation Act 2009,
witnesses are protected by absolute privilege in respect of
their evidence to this committee. However, if they are directed
by the Chairman to cease giving evidence on a particular
matter and continue to so do, they are entitled thereafter only
to qualified privilege in respect of their evidence. Witnesses
are directed that only evidence connected with the subject
matter of these proceedings is to be given and are asked to
respect the parliamentary practice to the effect that, where
possible, they should not criticise or make charges against any
person, persons or entity by name or in such a way as to make
him, her or it identifiable. I wish to advise the witnesses also
that any submission or opening statement they have
submitted to the committee may be published on the
committee website after the meeting. Members are reminded
of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that
they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against
a person outside the House or an official either by name or in
such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable.

The first item is the scrutiny of the EU regulation proposal

COM (2016) 479 on the inclusion of greenhouse gas emissions
and removals from land use, land use change and forestry in
the 2030 climate and energy framework. It is proposed that
the proposal does not warrant further scrutiny. Is that agreed?
Agreed.

COM (2016) 482 is a proposal for binding annual greenhouse

gas emission reductions by member states from 2021 to 2030.
It is proposed that the proposal does not warrant further
scrutiny. Is that agreed? Agreed.

COM (2016) 589 is a proposal for a regulation of the

European Parliament and the European Council amending EU
Regulations Nos. 1316/2013 and 283/2014 on the promotion of
Internet connectivity in local communities. It is proposed that
the proposal does not warrant further scrutiny. Is that agreed?
Agreed.

COM (2016) 594 is a proposal for a regulation of the

European Parliament and the European Council laying down
rules on the exercise of copyright and related rights applicable
to certain online transmissions of public service broadcasting.
It is proposed that the proposal does not warrant further
scrutiny. Is that agreed?

Deputy Eamon Ryan: Information on Eamon Ryan Zoom on

Eamon Ryan Subject to the specific questions we have asked.

Chairman: Information on Hildegarde Naughton Zoom on

Hildegarde Naughton Yes, and we will receive written
clarification on those. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Public Service Broadcasting: Discussion

Chairman: Information on Hildegarde Naughton Zoom on
Hildegarde Naughton The joint committee decided to prioritise
public service broadcasting as part of its work programme for
2016. The committee decided to review the current funding
model for public service broadcasting to review the effect of
advertising opt-out on Irish broadcasters and to consider
other related broadcasting matters. The committee may also
look at media ownership in Ireland. We are aware of the
difficulties in the current television licensing system, of the
very rapid changes in technology and of the reduction in
funding through commercial revenues available to all Irish
broadcasters. Although this is the first meeting in which the
committee will consider public service broadcasting, we have
engaged with the Minister on the funding of public service
broadcasting. We received a letter from the Minister dated 31
October 2016 on this very issue.

Today, we are meeting officials from the Department of

Communications, Climate Action and Environment and from
the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. We plan to meet RTE
and other stakeholders at later meetings. I welcome the
following officials from the Department: Ms Patricia Cronin,
assistant secretary, Mr. anna Conghaile, principal officer,
and Mr. Dualta O'Broin, assistant principal. I also welcome
representatives from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland,
BAI: Mr. Michael O'Keeffe, chief executive, Ms Celene Craig,
deputy CEO, and Mr. Diarmaid Breathnach, manager of public
service broadcasting.

I propose that the two main witnesses will speak for five to ten
minutes each, followed by a question and answer sessions in
which members may ask questions not exceeding three
minutes. Opening statements have been circulated. Is that
agreed? Agreed.

I invite the first witness, Ms Patricia Cronin, assistant

secretary, to give her opening statement.

Ms Patricia Cronin: I thank the Chairman for inviting us to

participate in today's meeting. I hope todays exchange will be
of benefit to the committee members in their consideration of
this important issue. I will make a brief opening statement and,
following the contribution from the BAI, my colleagues and I
will be happy to answer any questions from the members.

The Departments appearance before the committee today is

as a result of the appearance of the Minister, Deputy
Naughten, before the committee on 21 September to discuss
the Departments Estimates. The Ministers announcement
that he would not be pursuing the introduction of a household
broadcasting charge in the short term was discussed. The
Minister noted the interest of the committee members in the
future funding of public service media and how we define that
media and indicated that he would welcome if the committee
were to come forward with proposals on the issue. He also
stated that the Department would facilitate the committee in
any way in its consideration of these proposals.

Since then, the Minister has developed this view to take

account of the need to have a wider conversation on the
future of public service broadcasting. For example, what is it
we want public service broadcasting to deliver? What do we
want public service broadcasting to look like five years or ten
years from now? The Minister is very clear that he has a
statutory obligation in relation to RTE and TG4. However, while
addressing the issues facing these broadcasters, he is clear
that we must consider the needs of the sector as a whole. If
the sector is to thrive, we need to take account of all aspects
of broadcasting, including commercial broadcasting,
community broadcasting and the rapidly developing and
expanding digital sector. If consensus can be reached on what
public service broadcasting should look like in the future, then
it will be possible to start a discussion in earnest on how it is
intended to fund it.

The Minister, Deputy Naughten, wrote to the Chairman of the

committee on 31 October, setting out his views at a high level.
In that letter the Minister said he fully recognises the
important role that public service media plays in a democratic
society and the need to ensure it is adequately resourced if it
is to continue to deliver on its remit. The Minister fully
recognises his obligations to our public service broadcasters
but has asked the committee to consider the longer-term
issues surrounding the future funding of public service
broadcasting in detail.

I will briefly give a sense of the challenges facing the

broadcasting sector. Internationally, the broadcasting sector
has been subject to enormous change due to the growth of
digital and online technologies, resulting in the development of
new modes of delivery and new business models. As a result,
traditional broadcasters, both public and commercial, are
subject to increasing competition from large international
players and new forms of content delivery and need to adapt
rapidly to maintain their relevance, audience and commercial
revenues.
The Irish broadcasting market faces the same challenges, as
an ever-increasing number of non-Irish channels compete for
audience share and advertising revenues. The increasing
importance of online platforms and the use of handheld
devices is further impacting on Irish broadcasters audiences,
revenues and, in the case of public service broadcasters,
licence fee revenues. The Ministers view is that Irish
audiences need strong and independent public service media
outlets that can hold their own in the face of increasing
competition from international media and can continue to
provide the Irish public with distinctive and high-quality
indigenous programming that reflects our common experience
and provides a much-needed Irish perspective on events and
current affairs.

Discussions on longer-term issues like the future funding of

public sector broadcasting and how such broadcasting is
defined must not lose sight of one of the Minister's core
beliefs, which is that the current public service broadcasters -
RTE and TG4 - require a stable financial basis on which to
operate as they face funding challenges. As I have said, the
Minister has a statutory obligation in this respect and he fully
intends to support the broadcasters in any way he can. The 6
million achieved for public service broadcasting in budget
2017 was described by the Minister as the beginning of the
process of reversing the cuts imposed over recent years. As
the committee is aware, the Minister is not simply looking at
reversing these cuts; he is also considering the potential
legislative changes he could make to provide some form of
respite to both organisations by helping to improve the current
TV licence model so that the high level of evasion is reduced.
According to the most recent figures, the current rate of
evasion is 13.75%, which is unacceptable. The committee will
also be aware of the Minister's significant decision to agree in
principle to tender for the role of TV licence collection agent.
This issue, like others, is being examined in detail by the
Department because legislative changes will be required. The
Minister has made it clear that current payment method
options, including the post office network, have to be
maintained. These changes will feed into a longer-term
strategy, which the committees work will inform. In the short
term, the Minister hopes to return to the committee in the
coming months with proposals for legislative changes as part
of the required process of legislative scrutiny.

I hope my remarks have gone some way towards describing

the Ministers views and the steps being taken by the
Department. In light of the complexity of this subject and the
range of views and priorities in this area, the Minister and the
Department especially welcome the committee's decision to
commence public consultation on this topic. It is only by
engaging with all sides of the debate that the central and core
issues and values can be identified. I would like to pass on the
Ministers gratitude to the Chairman and members of the
committee, as well as the Clerk and his staff, for making such
rapid and comprehensive progress with this subject. We look
forward to engaging with the committee this evening and
answering any questions that members might have.

Chairman: Information on Hildegarde Naughton Zoom on

Hildegarde Naughton I invite Mr. Michael O'Keeffe, who is the
chief executive of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, to
make his opening statement.

Mr. Michael O'Keeffe: I thank the Chairman and the members

for inviting us to address the joint committee this evening. We
are looking forward to making this presentation. We are
prepared to make formal appearances at the joint committee
and to give briefings on any topics relating to broadcasting
that the Chairman or the members might want us to address in
the future. We have done that in the past and we would like to
continue to do so. Our offer is open.

This presentation has a number of elements. I will give a brief

outline of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland's objectives
and activities to date. I will look at some of the outcomes of
the five-year review that took place in 2013 and the main
elements of the next review. I will touch on some of the issues
pertaining to the commercial and community sectors and how
we will deal with such issues in our next strategy, on which we
launched a consultation last week. The authority's statutory
objectives and functions are set out in the 2009 Act. One of
our objectives is to facilitate RTE and TG4 in fulfilling their
functions. We have a range of functions that are associated
with those objectives. They are primarily concerned with how
TG4 and RTE use public funding, but they are also concerned
with the impact of their commercial and economic activities,
particularly as they apply to or impact on the competing
commercial sector. Our activities are designed to show that
the public service broadcasters are using public funding
efficiently, effectively, in a transparent manner and in pursuit
of their public service objects, as set out in the Broadcasting
Acts. That would be important in terms of the role we have
with them.

Our broad regulatory activities in relation to RTE and TG4 can

be divided into two. Members of the committee will be familiar
with our content-monitoring activities, which include
assessing levels of compliance with various codes and rules
and considering complaints about broadcasting matters.
These codes and rules, including programming codes,
advertising codes, access rules and subtitling rules, apply to
all broadcasters and not just to RTE and TG4. Our more
specific remit with regard to financing involves a number of
processes. We look at the broadcasters' statements of
commitments on an annual basis, we undertake annual
reviews and we do five-year reviews of both RTE and TG4. I
will give an example of the sectoral impact assessments we
undertake when new services are proposed by broadcasters.
We undertook such an assessment and made
recommendations to the Minister before the RTE News Now
service came on stream in recent years. Regarding economic
activities, we look at how RTE is using its commercial revenue
and its licence fee income. In the last year, we were involved
in the development of RTE's fair trading policy, which looks at
how its commercial activities operate fairly within the
commercial environment.

As I have mentioned some of the regulatory issues, I will move

on to the five-year review, which will look specifically at public
funding. The Broadcasting Act 2009 requires the authority to
carry out every five years a review of the adequacy of public
funding to enable public service broadcasters to meet their
public service objects. The presentation we have furnished to
the joint committee contains a list of the things we do in that
context. We look at the delivery of public service
broadcasting, ensure public service broadcasters are relevant
to Irish audiences, examine the role of such broadcasters in
the creative economy and assess the adequacy of current
funding and the question of sustainability. As members are
probably aware, the first review was completed in July 2013.
We will commence the second review in 2017 and this will be
completed in 2018. When it has been completed, we will make
a report and issue recommendations to the Minister on the
outcome.

Some of the five key recommendations in the first review were

covered in the comprehensive scoping document that was
prepared for the committee. I suppose the one that stood out
was the increase in public funding that was proposed for both
RTE and TG4, primarily to increase content. We placed a great
deal of emphasis on the question of delivering culturally
relevant content for Irish audiences. We recommended that
there should be an examination of the cost-effectiveness of
RTE and we looked at whether there could be greater
deployment of funding to support the independent production
sector. We made a number of recommendations regarding the
rebalancing of RTE's licence fee and commercial funding. We
considered whether there would be greater scope for the
commercial sector to benefit if RTE had less reliance on
commercial income. We suggested that further analysis was
required before making a decision on the proportion of
programming that should be made in-house or through
independent production. There are differing views on that
point within RTE and the various sectors on the outside. Some
of the recommendations in the review were implemented and
others are still ongoing. Obviously, the funding issue has
continued to arise in the annual reviews we have done since
then. With the exception of the provisions in the current
budget to which Ms Cronin referred, the funding situation has
not really changed for RTE and TG4.

We are beginning the process for the next review, which will
start in 2017 and will report in early 2018 or the middle of that
year. There is a slight change in emphasis in the theme of that
review. The earlier review focused on transparency and
efficiency, but we are now moving on to the greater
challenges encountered by the public service broadcasters as
they serve Irish audiences in the evolving digital environment.
We will look at future trends and developments. We will
examine the capability of the public service broadcasters to
meet the challenges. We will review the five-year strategic
plans that we will ask the broadcasters to produce in support
of our work. We have identified a number of key areas on
which we will focus, including the need to serve Irish
audiences, creativity, the Irish language, funding implications
and any legislative or regulatory changes that are required in
support of all of this. The process we will be undertaking will
have a number of elements. We will have ongoing consultation
with stakeholders throughout the process. We will engage in a
range of pieces of research to analyse things like economic
trends, international public service media organisations, the
general media environment, audience behaviours and
technological developments. We will also look at their
performance over the past five years. We are hopeful that we
will be able to issue a comprehensive report and make
recommendations at the end of that period. We hope the
Government will be in a position to support our proposals at
that time. It is important to mention the commercial and
community broadcasting service. I should make the point that
commercial community broadcasters are not public service
broadcasters and the Act does not define them as such.
However, we recognise that the Act gives them a public
purpose and requires that they fill many statutory duties, and
they have many public service obligations within the
programming that they are required to fulfil on an ongoing
basis. That is the distinction we make and we see there is
certainly merit in many of the arguments made by them
around the requirements they have. There are significant
challenges for the sector currently, including the general
economic climate as the impact of the recession has been
hard. There is also the impact of online media, which is true
across the board of traditional broadcasting, as it has changed
the way things are. We can see that in the advertising market
with changes in audience behaviours. It is also unlikely that
the market will ever come back to the level it was at in an
earlier stage.

We launched the consultation for our strategy last year and we

have put the sustainability of all broadcasters as a central
objective, putting it right to the forefront of the Broadcasting
Authority of Ireland's concerns within that. At our launch last
week this was broadly welcomed by the commercial and
community sectors. We will examine a range of different
funding models and make recommendations where we can to
support those, both in legislative and other ways. I should
mention a range of other initiatives that I have not put in the
presentation that we undertake which support the sectors.
There is the sound and vision funding scheme, a sectoral
learning and development programme that puts up to
500,000 back into the sector every year and we undertake
significant research. We are looking at some of the rules for
linear broadcasters; for example, we may relax some of the
restrictions in place in the advertising code so as to open
additional sources of funding.

That is the work programme we have in these areas over the

next number of years. It was a very quick run through it but I
would be happy to answer any questions.

Chairman: Information on Hildegarde Naughton Zoom on

Hildegarde Naughton Before going to members I have two
questions. The Department referenced a tendering process for
the collection of the television licence. As we know, An Post is
currently the Minister's collection agent and it is paid
commission to collect the fee. In light of Mr. Bobby Kerr's
report and considering the different ways we can support the
An Post network by increasing the amount of State services it
can deal with, is the matter outlined in the presentation seen
as a retrograde step? It may take away services from An Post
in that although it will be paid per licence fee paid into the
post office, there is the potential after the tendering process
that somebody else could be paid for the collection service of
the television licence.

Much research on the commercial pressures on media

coverage - both print and broadcasting elements - indicates
there is influence and pressure on the operators from
commercial influences. A substantial amount of research
demonstrates that commercial media does not provide voters
with sufficient information on policy and political content. I
note Dr. Kevin Rafter of Dublin City University researched the
issue comprehensively and argues that Ireland would not be
reflective of what happens internationally with regard to
commercial and public service news organisations as there is
not much of a difference in the public service element.
Whether bodies are commercial or public, they provide similar
levels of public service broadcasting. What is the view of
witnesses on that?

Mr. anna Conghaile: I will answer the question on the use

of the post office network, any potential tendering and
providing for a new collection agent. The Minister is very
conscious of the role that the post office networks play in rural
communities. He is aware of the Kerr report and he has made
it quite clear that if and when the agency role goes to tender,
and if it is taken by another organisation, subject to the caveat
that any arrangements would need to be in accordance with
state aid and competition rules and so on, the post office
network should continue to be the distribution point for the
sale of television licences.

Chairman: Information on Hildegarde Naughton Zoom on

Hildegarde Naughton If it did not get the tender, would the
post office network collect the fees? The people would pay
the fee to the post office network but it would not necessarily
get the commission that the winning tenderer would get.

Mr. anna Conghaile: Currently, with the sale of television

licences, one can either buy them through the post office or
pay online. For example, I pay for mine online at 13.33 per
month and it is sent to me in the post. My understanding is the
post offices would continue to get the commission from the
sale on the premises and they would also benefit from the
continued footfall of customers who come to pay for the
licence.

Chairman: Information on Hildegarde Naughton Zoom on

Hildegarde Naughton There is potential for another company
to oversee the collection.

Mr. anna Conghaile: Potentially-----

Chairman: Information on Hildegarde Naughton Zoom on
Hildegarde Naughton Another company could win the tender
and it would be the collection agent.

Mr. anna Conghaile: That is possible, although the decision

has not been made about the form of the tender. There are a
number of parts to the whole operation. There is issuing and
sale, detection, enforcement and maintenance of the
database. Whether they all form part of one tender or separate
tenders must be decided. The Minister has been very clear
that he wants the role of the post offices to be maintained in
terms of being a sales point for television licences and they
would benefit from the commission related to the sales of
licences in that way.

Chairman: Information on Hildegarde Naughton Zoom on

Hildegarde Naughton I suppose I am talking about the
potential loss of revenue to the post office network.

Mr. anna Conghaile: My understanding is the revenue is

paid to An Post and, as an organisation, it would take in the
full amount of commission that we provide to An Post. That
includes a smaller element of commission relating to free
licences issued by the Department of Social Protection. There
is also the issue of licences paid for online and the issuing of
physical licences. I am open to correction on this but not all
post offices would be An Post post offices. Many of them are
run on a contract basis by local postmasters. They are paid
based on the commission they get from the sales of licences
in each post office. The proposals would not vary from the
current way that is established.

Chairman: Information on Hildegarde Naughton Zoom on

Hildegarde Naughton Is the witness saying this will come
down to the nuts and bolts of the tendering process? You do
not know if there will be a potential loss and the tendering
process must be worked out before any potential loss of
income could be determined.

Mr. anna Conghaile: Those decisions must be made. I

should be clear that the Minister is very conscious of the role
played by the post offices and the need to try to ensure, as
much as possible, that they continue to play a central part in
the sales of television licences.

Chairman: Information on Hildegarde Naughton Zoom on

Hildegarde Naughton Does Mr. O'Keeffe wish to deal with the
question of the commercial versus the public services?

Mr. Michael O'Keeffe: It goes back to my comment on the

public purpose of the commercial sector in broadcasting in
this jurisdiction. They all have requirements for matters such
as fairness, impartiality and objectivity. There is not much
difference in what they are required to do. I would not
necessarily agree that there is not much difference in what
they provide. All broadcasters provide different approaches to
news and current affairs. The commercial pressures are
around the cost of operating in that model. I would not
interpret it as commercial pressures being brought to bear on
broadcasters in terms of how they cover material. It is more a
question of the challenges they face generally. There is not
that much difference in what is required. There are different
levels or scales in that respect but they both have obligations.
That is within the legislation and we implement it.

Deputy Eamon Ryan: Information on Eamon Ryan Zoom on

Eamon Ryan I thank the witnesses for their presentations.
Getting David McRedmond as chief executive of An Post to
increase TV licences is a fantastic example of poacher turned
gamekeeper. That will not be easy. It has to be legislated for.
It is hard to square the circle of keeping it the old way but the
old way ain't working. I presume there is another short-term
measure we must consider, for example, cable networks
having a must-carry obligation for stations such as RTE.
Flipping that, at some point they must pay because there is an
inequity in areas where there could be an immediate return
through a fairly easy legislative change. Similarly, the
provision for the sale of land in RTE, which I have been arguing
for because the land there is under-used and it is valuable
land which is badly needed for housing. They are all short-
term solutions, not structural changes. I was very glad to hear
Mr. O'Keeffe's suggestion that the next round of reviewing the
public service funding is considering the wider scope of how
public service is evolving in the digital environment and if I am
reading it aright, this would include the commercial
broadcasters in some way.

Do we have figures for how much advertising companies in the

digital market, such as facebook and Google, would get in the
Irish market? Are there figures for what the international and
domestic satellite providers gain here? This would give us an
understanding of who the different players are. Digital
advertising is a growing area. RTE's figures for it are
approximately 16 million, 10% of its commercial revenue.
What percentage is that of the overall digital advertising
market? Are there ways of finding out what that market is?

If I recall rightly there was a consultative event in the Royal

Hospital Kilmainham before the establishment of the
Broadcasting Authority of Ireland - Mr. O'Keeffe is long
enough in the tooth to remember it. The event was innovative,
bottom-up not just top table but a genuine communication
between a variety of interests. Would it make sense for us to
host, or to do so in conjunction with the BAI and the
Department, a similar public event to open up this question?
There are so many people with an interest in it, the public
service broadcasters, the commercial TV companies, the
newspaper industry, community radio and the content
providers, the independent production sector, the advertising
sector, satellite and cable providers. The committee could
bring in one after the other but a public event like that event in
the early 2000s, at a point when we had to seriously
reconsider our public service broadcasting, would be better.
We could host it in early spring and allow different people
come and in a creative, facilitated way share different ideas
and output. It is such a complex issue with so many players
involved an innovative forum might be better than a series of
presentations here. I would be interested to hear the
Department and BAI's assessment of that. I have seen it work
for broadband policy in the Department. If we facilitate it
cleverly it is the best way of getting different views on a
complex situation. That might assist the BAI's funding review
and allow us to carry out the review the Minister
commissioned us to do.

Ms Patricia Cronin: We do not have figures for Google but we

do have a figure for revenue from online advertising which has
increased from 100 million in 2009 to 340 million at the end
of 2015. That gives a sense of the scale of the advertising.
Google and facebook would, I presume, be big players.

Deputy Eamon Ryan: Information on Eamon Ryan Zoom on

Eamon Ryan Where did that figure come from?

Ms Patricia Cronin: We do not have the source, just the figure.

Opt-out advertising by the digital channels takes
approximately 50 million out of the 200 million total
advertising revenue for broadcasters. That gives a sense of
the scale of competition for the broadcast sector in Ireland.
We can go back to the Minister with Deputy Ryan's
suggestion. He is always very keen to work with committees
and to be as open as possible. Like the Deputy, he appreciates
the scale of the challenges facing broadcasters, especially for
the future of public sector broadcasting.

Mr. Michael O'Keeffe: I have nothing to add on the figures. I

would say they are probably correct. We would have had
figures on the opt-out advertising which would echo what the
Department has said.

One of the things that emerged from the forum on

broadcasting was the sound and vision broadcasting funding
scheme, which brought in 7% of the licence fee. Maybe we will
get another 7%. It is a very good idea. Things are changing
very quickly and dramatically. The revision of the audio visual
media services directive is being debated in the various
regulatory authorities. It is proposed to put that in place by the
first half of 2018. If the Department and the committee is
involved in the event we would be very happy to support and
play a part in it.

Deputy Eamon Ryan: Information on Eamon Ryan Zoom on

Eamon Ryan Can Ms Cronin answer my question about the
must-pay versus must-carry rule on cable networks for public
service broadcasting? Has that been considered?

Ms Patricia Cronin: We are considering it as part of the

legislation.
Deputy Eamon Ryan: Information on Eamon Ryan Zoom on
Eamon Ryan That would give a certain revenue.

Deputy Brian Stanley: Information on Brian Stanley Zoom on

Brian Stanley I thank the witnesses for coming in and for their
presentations. Finance is the central question. The option of a
household broadcasting charge was considered but we have
moved away from it. The figure quoted for online advertising is
staggering. How much is the overall advertising revenue in the
broadcasting sector? Are there any statistics on its decline or
increase in recent years? Can the Department and BAI indicate
the shortfall in revenue from advertising, coupled with the fact
that the licence fee has not increased and that there is
approximately 13% evasion? Figures for that would be useful.
We hear calls from commercial radio and TV for part of the
licence fee. I am a firm believer in a strong public service
broadcasting sector. There is also a counter view on the
commercial sector and the stand-alone operators. I would like
to hear the views of the Department and the BAI in that
regard.

The last matter I will ask about is election coverage. While not
all sections of the media are guilty of this, analysis was carried
out after the recent general election and published online
about three months after the election which showed that the
party I represent, Sinn Fin, did not get fair media coverage
and was consistently exposed to a high level of negative
coverage. The broadcasting sector was not the worst
offender. One particular print media outlet was guilty of most
of the negative coverage. Let us forget which party I
represent; let us just consider the matter from the point of
view of fairness. Mr. O'Keeffe outlined in his opening remarks
the importance in a functioning democracy of having good
public service broadcasting, and I think we all agree with that,
but has any analysis been done of that coverage? Have
conclusions been drawn from it? Are there safeguards in
place? I would like to hear Mr. O'Keeffe's views in that regard
because it is important. While every party might complain and
shout that it does not get a fair crack of the whip, even in how
interviews are carried out and so on, I think any fair analysis of
the last election would show - and even opponents of Sinn
Fin have commented - that the coverage we received and the
way in which we were presented in many of the different
media outlets were a long way from fair. Sections of the print
media, particularly Independent News and Media, INM, were
the worst offenders. I acknowledge that much of the
broadcast media was very fair. The interviews on RTE and so
on were fair, but many other elements were not. I would like
the witnesses to comment on that.

Chairman: Information on Hildegarde Naughton Zoom on

Hildegarde Naughton Whoever wants to respond to those
questions may do so.

Mr. Michael O'Keeffe: I will address the last one anyway, if the
Chairman wishes, and will make some observations on the
others.

As Deputy Stanley knows, within the broadcast media there

are requirements of fairness, impartiality and objectivity and
we police that. A compliance committee examines and
monitors that. The same does not apply to the print media.
The print media does not have those same obligations, so it
does not have to comply with them. Were there evidence of
non-compliance, we would take action. We have
commissioned some research on the last general election from
a man mentioned earlier, Kevin Rafter, who is doing that piece
of work for us at the moment and we should have a report on
that. It will look at the broadcast media because, obviously,
the BAI is particularly concerned about the broadcast media.
We probably will have some information on that early in the
new year. I think Mr. Rafter is doing some analysis work at the
moment on that, which we can make available to Deputy
Stanley when we have it.

To address an earlier question, the Chairman mentioned the

commercial sector and the challenges it faces and whether it
should get the licence fee. We recognise that it has public
service obligations. The licence fee has not increased, as the
Chairman knows, for some time, so we question whether
cutting another piece of the licence fee to give to the
commercial sector would be the best way to go. There are
other funding mechanisms and we have made the need to
address some of those one of our objectives. There are
mechanisms, whether around advertising rules and regulations
or other areas. We support the commercial sector in many
ways through the Sound and Vision funding scheme. We will
look at other mechanisms as to how that might be done and
will make recommendations. Over the course of the next 12
months we envisage giving a good bit of time over to that.

I am sure there is information on the amount of online

advertising revenue and I imagine we could get some figures
in that regard. I do not have any to hand. Ms Cronin might
have some more information about the figures.

Ms Patricia Cronin: To give Deputy Stanley some very rough

figures, the advertising revenue has gone from 300 million in
2009 to 200 million in 2015, which is a very substantive
decline. Some of that has gone online and some of it is the
opt-out-----

Deputy Brian Stanley: Information on Brian Stanley Zoom on

Brian Stanley To clarify, for the broadcasting outlets, it has
gone-----

Ms Patricia Cronin: 350 million.

Deputy Brian Stanley: Information on Brian Stanley Zoom on

Brian Stanley -----to 200 million.

Ms Patricia Cronin: 200 million, yes.

Deputy Brian Stanley: Information on Brian Stanley Zoom on

Brian Stanley That is a drop of 100 million. Regarding online
revenue, did Ms Cronin mention a figure of 340 million
earlier?

Ms Patricia Cronin: It increased from 100 million to 340

million at the end of 2015. The evasion rate is 13.75%, which is
quite high by international standards. Very roughly, if it
declined to, say, 5%, that would harness an extra 25 million,
which is a reasonable amount of money. That could potentially
have been part of the rationale for the decision by the Minister
to put licence fee collection out to tender. It is a lot of money
to forgo for RTE and the independent broadcasters via the
Sound and Vision fund. The Minister has spoken at various
fora and, in addition to his statutory responsibilities for RTE
and TG4, he is quite interested in and focused on local radio.
He feels they provide a good service. Clearly, like everybody
else, they are facing challenges as well.

Deputy James Lawless: Information on James Lawless Zoom

on James Lawless I thank the witnesses for their
presentations. It is good to hear from them all. I have a couple
of questions which I will ask in no particular order.

The first concerns the role of the community sector, which I

think was mentioned in one of the presentations. This also
includes the local radio sector, maybe the commercial sector
and maybe the broadcasting authorities. I am not sure if radio
comes under the remit of broadcasting as well. Does it?

Mr. Michael O'Keeffe: Yes.

Deputy James Lawless: Information on James Lawless Zoom

on James Lawless Regarding the BAI's rebalancing and
looking at the commercial and community aspects, which was
mentioned at some stage earlier, there is CRAOL, an umbrella
community radio group, and all the local radio stations, which
are employed commercially as well. I am interested in the BAI's
thoughts on the position if these were to come under its wing
in the future. I am not sure whether they are at the moment.
What responsibilities and obligations might be imposed on
them and what kind of supports might they be expected to
receive?

My next question concerns a figure in the BAI's opening

statement about compliance and evasion. It is stated that the
level of evasion from the TV licence is 13.75%. That does not
seem that bad a level of evasion. The corollary of that is that
we have a compliance percentage in the high 80s. I am
interested to know whether that is vertical or horizontal. My
understanding is that if there are multiple devices in a house,
each theoretically must be registered under the new licence
fee. A person may have multiple addresses. We had a
conversation recently about mobile homes and holiday homes.
If someone has a TV in a mobile home in Wexford for a few
weeks of the year, he or she is expected to have a licence for
it separate to the licence for the device in his or her
homestead. It is also my understanding that if there is a
second TV in a bedroom upstairs, a separate licence must
pertain to that. Regarding the evasion fee, is it the case that
every household must have a minimum of one licence, so is it
a horizontal stretch and 13.75% of households do not have any
licence, or is it the case that 13.75% of all the licences that
should be paid have not been chased up? I am not sure that is
clear. I will clarify that if necessary.

I will raise a general point. Deputy Stanley raised political

broadcasting. No one party has a monopoly on complaints.
The party I represent is not always best pleased by coverage
either. The coverage is a mapping back to a function of
representation in the Oireachtas, and it was not always a fair
representation in terms of the coverage received. I am not
sure whether it has improved in the new Dil. It is probably too
early to tell, although the broadcasting sector and RTE in
particular are struggling with the minority Government
arrangement. A recent "Prime Time" debate fundamentally
misunderstood the nature of our minority Government and,
therefore, perhaps it is time RTE got up to speed with the
reality around most of Europe and most western democracies.
It might be something for the BAI to keep an eye on as well.

Mr. anna Conghaile: Mr. O'Keeffe will follow on the issue of

the community broadcasting sector but we are conscious of
its role. Under the legislation, it is one of the three pillars of
Irish broadcasting. My division is undertaking a report and we
have engaged with members of CRAOL over recent months
trying to get a handle on the issues facing the sector because
community broadcasters face specific issues as a very much
voluntary sector to which quite a different funding model
applies. We have engaged with them and we hope to complete
a report for the Minister on the sector by year end. We will
hope to use the report to identify the issues and potentially
any solutions that we can put in place from a policy
perspective. I am sure Mr. O'Keeffe will add to that later.

There is a requirement under the legislation that there should

be one television licence per premises or per household. That
is why, for instance, holiday homes are covered by the
requirement to have a television licence. In a block of
apartments, each apartment, which is a separate household, is
required to have a single licence. No matter how many devices
are in a household, one licence will cover them.

The Deputy referred to the evasion rate of 13.75%. That is

13.75% of all licences that should be in existence. I hope that
answers the question.

Deputy James Lawless: Information on James Lawless Zoom

on James Lawless That is helpful. At one stage, it was
proposed that every device would have a licence attaching to
it. Therefore, in a household with three televisions and three
iPads, six licences would have been required. If five out of the
six were registered, would the household be considered to be
evading? I did not think that was the case but I wanted to
clarify that.

Mr. Michael O'Keeffe: On the political broadcasting point, my

response is similar to that which I gave Deputy Stanley. It is
more challenging for broadcasters. There are more political
parties and they are obliged under the legislation to provide
fair and impartial coverage. We are there not to tell the
broadcaster what to do but to step in in the event that the
Deputy or other groups are dissatisfied with the approach. We
are available and we will deal with issues as they arise on that
basis.

The community sector is important to us. We have a sectoral

development fund not just for the community sector but also
for the commercial sector, which provides up to 500,000. It
supports a range of initiatives and it supports the various
networks that are developing across the sector. It also
supports training programmes for radio and television, in
particular. We undertake a number of research initiatives
through which we support the different sectors. We put a
great deal back into supporting them. They pay a levy to us
and this is something we give back to this important sector.
The three stands of community, commercial and public
provide for a strong broadcasting sector throughout the
country and, therefore, we are supportive of that.

Deputy James Lawless: Information on James Lawless Zoom

on James Lawless I second Deputy Ryan's proposal for a wider
forum for all the stakeholders. If we could contribute to that, I
would be happy to do so. It is a good suggestion.

Chairman: Information on Hildegarde Naughton Zoom on

Hildegarde Naughton I have a question about tracking public
perception of our public service broadcasters. The 2014
review proposed an annual survey. What is the current status
of that? This ties in with the comments of Deputies Lawless
and Ryan about consultation with stakeholders. When we
examine funding of public service broadcasters, we need to
consult the citizens who watch their output about whether
they feel they are getting value for money and what they
would like to watch. The consultation process will be key
politically to any funding model put forward in the future. We
must consult citizens.

I refer to data protection issues relating to who has a

television in their homes. I understand the Department is
considering legislation in this regard. People may have
televisions but there is no way of ascertaining whether they
do. There are data protection issues and legislation is
required. Perhaps the departmental officials will comment on
that.

Ms Celene Craig: I will take the first question about audience

perceptions. In the course of conducting annual performance
reviews of each of the public service broadcasters, we were
measuring and assessing their performance against their
annual commitments but the BAI also came to consider its own
need to assess the extent to which they were performing
against their statutory remit a little more specifically. We set
about that for the first time over the past year. It is our
intention to conduct that research year on year over the next
three years and to track progress. We have not put the
information in the public domain yet, although when the report
on public funding for 2015 is presented to the Houses of the
Oireachtas, members will see references to the research that
was used to assess the performance of both RTE and TG4. We
are looking at making available more publicly some of the key
leading results of that. However, at this point we can share
that in general the performance of both our public service
broadcasters was viewed strongly in respect of many of the
key aspects of their statutory remit.

Chairman: Information on Hildegarde Naughton Zoom on

Hildegarde Naughton What about the data protection issue?

Ms Patricia Cronin: Clearly, we are at an early stage in terms of

the consideration of issues around the tendering but a
database is there, which is owned by the Minister, with the
names of people who are paying the television licence.
However, the Chairman is correct that data protection is a
critical issue in terms of anything we might do and we will
have to examine it in depth. It is an important issue to
highlight.

Deputy Eamon Ryan: Information on Eamon Ryan Zoom on

Eamon Ryan Is there analysis available of what we are looking
at? I do not refer to who is watching RTE or TV3 and so on. I
am sick and tired of realclearpolitics.com and I cannot wait to
see the back of it. Hopefully, that will happen after tomorrow. I
spend my time on that website or on The Guardian website. Is
there a baseline analysis available of where we get our news
and what we are looking at to help us with the assessment?

Given the BAI's most recent report stated the funding of

public service broadcasting needed to be increased and it was
not, on a scale of zero to five where zero means we are
reasonably okay but we need to look at this while five means it
is starting to impinge on the ability of public sector
broadcasters to deliver and it is a critical problem, how would
Mr. O'Keeffe assess the urgency of addressing the funding
crisis? If the advertising revenue has gone from 300 million
to 200 million and licence fee revenue is static or has fallen,
how serious is that issue for RTE and TG4, whatever about the
other players in the industry?

Mr. Michael O'Keeffe: On the first point regarding the analysis,

we undertake research. We are part of the Reuters
international research. Admittedly, it is an online survey, which
may skew the results a little in the online direction. We have
signed up to this and we get results for Ireland over a three-
year period. We have two years of results at this stage. That is
showing the strength of television, particularly the public
broadcaster, which is very strong in terms of where we get our
news. However, online is growing to a significant extent and
radio is also strong. Print is declining. That is a trend. We have
detail on that and we can provide it.

Deputy Eamon Ryan: Information on Eamon Ryan Zoom on

Eamon Ryan It would be great if the witness could share it.

Mr. Michael O'Keeffe: We will do that. We are doing it over a

three-year period and we are due to get the third year of
results to see the trend. It is always useful to have a slightly
longer period to show a trend. We will have the third year
results next June and we will do something on it. We can
certainly make that available to members of the committee.

Ms Craig will respond to the second question.

Ms Celene Craig: I will respond separately with regard to TG4

and RTE. On TG4, successive consultants who have
undertaken our annual reviews have strongly made the point
that TG4 cannot take any further cuts in its funding. It is
essential that funding is maintained at its current level, at an
absolute minimum, if it is to have any hope of sustaining its
current listenership. It would require additional funding to
grow its listenership and to develop and respond to the
challenges it faces in the digital environment. We are probably
also reaching a similar point more recently with RTE. Hence
the strategic focus of the five-year review on examining the
funding requirements. There is funding available which will
allow broadcasters to hold their current position, perhaps with
some difficulty, but there is a need for them to be able to
respond and evolve in the digital environment with online
content and content that is made available across a range of
platforms. Both current funding and capital investment are
required to facilitate those types of development. Critically,
the forthcoming five-year review of public funding will aim to
focus on those key questions and examine exactly what is
needed to help the broadcasters remain strong in terms of
providing culturally relevant content for Irish audiences into
the future.

Deputy Eamon Ryan: Information on Eamon Ryan Zoom on

Eamon Ryan Therefore, it is five and five.

Mr. Michael O'Keeffe: We do not like numbers.

Chairman: Information on Hildegarde Naughton Zoom on

Hildegarde Naughton I thank the witnesses for attending the
meeting. It was a worthwhile conversation and we look forward
to working with them over the weeks and months ahead. Is it
agreed that the committee will publish the submissions
received today and the letter from the Minister? Agreed.

The joint committee went into private session 6.25 p.m. and
adjourned at 6.45 p.m. until 5 p.m. on Tuesday, 22 November
2016.
http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/media/committees/communication
sclimatechangenaturalresources/publicservicebroadcasting/RTE-
Opening-Statement.pdf

Locals plan tribute to late homeless

busker
A homeless man has died in Tullamore, and locals in the Co Offaly
town are planning to play tribute to him at an event tonight.
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Conor OHagan, 25, had been living in the town for around five
months and regularly busked with his guitar on its streets.
Ken Smollen, leader of the Irish Democratic Party who is also
involved in a local Food Appeal, wrote on his Facebook page that Mr
OHagan had been hospitalised recently due to the effects of
sleeping outdoors.
He later told local media that he had spoken with Mr OHagan once,
to give him a sleeping bag and some food.
Local sources told the Irish Examiner that Mr OHagan had been
homeless and that this included sleeping rough. It is also understood
that he had slept in the station in the town on a few occasions.
Efforts were also made to try to access services for him. The cause of
his death is not known.
Yesterday, local people who had got to know Mr OHagan said they
would stage a commemorative gig in the town.
One local, writing on Facebook, stated: As you may know, Conor
who has called Tullamore his home for the past few months, has
sadly passed away.
As a busker, he was well known playing his guitar beside Boots.
Please join us this Wednesday at OConnor Square in a farewell
tribute to him.
A number of local musicians are involved in the initiative. Its
understood some of those involved were also performing in memory
of Mr OHagan at a bar in the town last night.
One local said yesterday that the 25-year-old was a gentle soul and
a free spirit who also had a heart condition. It is understood he had
been in a serious condition in Tullamore General Hospital recently
and that he had been supported during his illness by his father.
It is understood that Mr OHagan had attended Clonakilty Community
College in Co Cork. However, it is believed much of his family now
live in Manchester in England and that he also has relatives living in
the North.
Some of his family were due in Tullamore last night to attend the
weekly Acoustic Tuesdays event in Joe Lees pub, at which he had
previously performed.
Over 7,000 people are now homeless in Ireland.

Figures from the Department of Housing show over 2,500 children

are homeless for the first time on record.

Roughan Mac Namara from Focus Ireland says the newly released
report for December proves the crisis is deepening.

"Focus Ireland is highly concerned that the figures show that the
number of homeless people in Ireland have reached over 7,000 for
the first time ever.

"This is a clear sign the homeless crisis continues to deepen... The

Government has clearly not done all it can."

There are definitely stories that

would fit onto the big screen':
Jim Sheridan reflects on
Apollo House
The film director is proud of what the Apollo House occupation
achieved.
February 23, 17
Glen Hansard singing atop Apollo House
Source: TV3
IN DECEMBER, MEMBERS of the Home Sweet Home
campaign a broad coalition of housing activists, artists and
trade union members took over Apollo House in Dublin
and repurposed it as accommodation for the homeless.
The campaign garnered huge public support, brought
government ministers to the table and has been hugely
critical of the situation facing homeless people in Ireland.
A documentary Inside Apollo House will air on TV3 this
evening, and TheJournal.ie had a chat with film director
Jim Sheridan about the initiative, what it meant and what it
achieved for homelessness in this country.
I got involved when I was approached by Dean Scurry and
Damien Dempsey, Sheridan said. I was the old guy whod
front it up, he joked.
The director of films such as My Left Foot and In America
said that while he was aware that there was a
homelessness crisis in Ireland, he wasnt aware of the extent
of it or where it came from before he entered Apollo House.
Jim Sheridan
Source: TV3
People needed to be made aware of homelessness, he said,
but not just homelessness. Theres an awful lot that needs
to be done in health, in banking, in the legal profession. We
need to build back trust from the ground up in this country.

The initiative wasnt just charitable, it was an intervention,

according to the director.
Sheridan said that the group wasnt so much directly taking
on the establishment, as just trying to do the right thing.
Were not oppositional. We were a loving group trying to
give people back their dignity, and belief in the institutions
that they had lost faith in. You have that power to change
things, and thats what we tried to do.
As for what Sheridan actually got up to while in Apollo
House, he focused on documenting all the measures in place
to ensure that nobody got hurt in the building.
Once you start a party in your house, youre responsible for
everyone in there.
In terms of what Apollo House has actually achieved now
that its all over, Sheridan believes that theyve made a
difference in terms of the concessions they received
increase in emergency beds, and a commitment to families
being taken away from hotel accomodation but the real
way to fix the homelessness crisis is not through initiatives
such as this.
Raising awareness of the problem is crucial, but it is up to
government to provide the necessary social housing and
policies at the top to make sure that the benefits are felt by
everybody.

Source: TV3
Its definitely changed peoples attitudes, Sheridan said.
We created a debate, and a debate that needed to happen.
And from a professional perspective, is the story of Apollo
House something that Sheridan feels would translate well
into a feature film?
There are definitely stories in there that would fit onto the
big screen. There are some amazing stories in there that
could be told.
Inside Apollo House airs on TV3 at 10pm tonight.

In Dublin, there are 13 empty

homes for every adult in
homelessness'
Empty homes provide an unprecedented opportunity for the
Government to effectively end homelessness in Ireland, writes Pat
Doyle.
February 23, 17

Pat Doyle
THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE figure available at the
moment tells us that there are almost 200,000 empty
homes across the country. This compares with 7,148
experiencing homelessness, a figure made up of individuals,
couples and families with children.
To house every single person in homelessness today, we
would need in the region of 4,500 to 5,000 homes.
Peter McVerry Trust believes that the Government has the
ability to house every person who is homeless in Ireland
today within the next 12 months. To achieve this the
Government needs to create a high intensity response to the
thousands of empty homes spread across our cities, towns
and villages.
Vacant homes
The number of vacant homes, based on the CSOs figures, is
simply staggering particularly when you break it down by
local authority and compare the number of empty homes
with the number of adults in homelessness. Such a
comparison shows that, in some counties, there are
hundreds of empty homes per one adult experiencing
homelessness.
In Mayo, there are over 11,000 empty properties, which
means 930 empty homes for each of the 12 homeless adults
in the county. In Roscommon, its even higher at 940 empty
homes for every adult who is homeless.
Making these homes liveable
Even in our cities, where the vast majority of people in
homelessness are found, there are almost 50,000 empty
homes. In Dublin, the epicentre of the homeless emergency,
there are 13 empty homes for every adult in homelessness.
In Cork, the ratio shows 85 empty homes for each adult who
is homeless in the city and county.
The challenge, of course, is turning these empty buildings
into quality, liveable homes within the next 12 months. Peter
McVerry Trust knows, from our own direct experiences of
turning empty buildings across Dublin into homes for
people exiting homelessness, this can be done quickly and
cheaply.
Peter McVerry Trust believes there are 5 key actions that the
Government must now introduce to allow empty homes to
end homelessness.
Ring-fence empty homes for people in
homelessness
Peter McVerry Trust believes that empty homes can offer
solutions right across the housing spectre creating more
rental properties and more homes to buy. On the housing
needs of people in homelessness each local authority should
be required to ring-fence 50% of all empty homes brought
back into use for people in homelessness today until all of
them are housed.
In the vast majority of counties, returning 200 homes and
allocating 50% of them to people who are homeless will
reduce homelessness to zero in that county.

A constant supply of empty homes coming back into the

system together with Part V, HAP, and new build
programmes by housing associations would mean we could
rapidly re-house new cases of homelessness. This would
eliminate the need for long term shelter placements.
Building regulations
Unfortunately, existing building regulations can make the
renovation or upgrading of older empty properties
unnecessarily expensive and time consuming. Over the shop
accommodation, in particular, is hamstrung by costly and
cumbersome building control processes.
The Government has been advised that it does not need to
bring in new legislation. The Minister could simply use
existing powers to improve the system making it cheaper,
quicker and operating with a common sense approach to
getting empty homes back into use.
Empty homes officers
There needs to be boots on the ground and local authorities
also need the resources to hire these teams of Empty Homes
Officers. These officers would get out there to identify empty
homes, engage with the property owners and make them
aware of Government grant schemes like the repair and
leasing initiative.
Empty Homes Officers would also serve as a one stop shop
for information and advice for empty home owners.
Matchmaker scheme
A matchmaker scheme is important because it would match
empty home owners with organisations that want to lease or
buy these properties.
The matchmaker scheme, coordinated by Empty Homes
Officers, would match social housing associations and
homeless charities with property owners in order to rent or
purchase their properties. This scheme would need
Government funding and fast track approval processes to do
this and to get the buildings back into use as quickly as
possible.
Vacant property tax
The final critical element is a vacant property tax that would
be applied to houses not used as a persons main home.
Peter McVerry Trust believes that any property empty for
more than 1 year should be subject to an additional tax or
levy that would increase each year the property lies empty
up until year 5 then a compulsory purchase order would be
issued.
It is clear that empty homes, if targeted properly, carry the
single best opportunity to end homelessness in Ireland. We
know what the problems are and we also know what the
solutions are. Now we must move quickly with decisive
action. If we do that, we can effectively end homelessness by
March 2018.
File photo of a person walking through Dublin.
THE NUMBER OF homeless families and children staying
in emergency accommodation declined last month, but the
number of people in total shot up to record highs.
Figures for January show that there were a total of 7,167
homeless adults and children in emergency accommodation
across Ireland in January, up slightly from 7,148 in
December.
The overall number is up 25% on this month last year.
There were some minor positives as the figures showed 33
fewer families living in emergency accommodation in
January than December. 1,172 families in total were staying
in emergency accommodation for a week in January.
The number of homeless children also dropped by close to
100 across the country, with 2,407 staying in emergency
accommodation in January.
The number of homeless single adults went up, with 117
additional people in emergency accommodation than in
December (4,760 in total).

Dublin still has by far the largest number of homeless

people, with 3247 homeless adults (not including rough
sleepers) in January.
Sinn Fin housing spokesperson Eoin Broin welcomed the
slight reduction in the numbers of homeless families and
children, but said the drop was clearly at the expense of
single person households.
The January homeless figures can be in no way labelled as a
success and government policy on homelessness is clearly
failing, Broin said.
Homelessness charities Focus Ireland and the Peter
McVerry Trust both voiced their concern about the rise in
homeless adults.
Unfortunately, because of the difficulties single people face
it is they who face the longest stay in homelessness, said a
spokesperson for the Peter McVerry Trust.
Focus Ireland said that the number of homeless people had
now reached a record high and criticised the Governments
piecemeal approach.
We need to maintain the huge public recognition that what
is happening to these families is wrong, and the solutions
that the Government have put in place are too piecemeal
and too slow, said Mike Allen, director of advocacy at Focus
Ireland
http://www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default/files/publications/files/homeless_rep
ort_-_january_2017.pdf








Influenza activity in Ireland falls
below baseline rates

Influenza-like illness (ILI) rates decreased to 15.2 per 100,000

population during the week ending February 12th 2017
compared to the updated rate of 25.2 per 100,000 during the
previous week. The ILI rate is now below the Irish baseline
threshold for the first time since early December. Influenza
hospitalisations and outbreaks continue to be reported at low
levels. Influenza A(H3N2) is the main influenza virus
circulating in Ireland, mainly affecting those aged 65 years
and older. Influenza activity peaked during the first week of
January. It is expected that influenza activity will continue to
decline in the coming weeks.
Sixty-six deaths associated with influenza have been reported
to HPSC to date this season, the majority of these were aged
65 years and older. Excess deaths from all causes in those
aged 65 years and older were reported in December and
January, most likely associated with the circulation of influenza
A(H3N2). Seasons where influenza A(H3N2) is the
predominant virus in circulation usually result in excess deaths
in those aged 65 years and older.
Genetic analysis was undertaken by the National Virus
Reference Laboratory (NVRL) on a selection of influenza
samples from patients. The majority (over 70%) of circulating
influenza A(H3N2) strains sequenced match the current
vaccine strain.

Influenza vaccine
The influenza vaccine is available free of charge from GPs for
all people in at risk groups, and from pharmacists for everyone
in risk groups aged 18 years and over. An administration
charge may apply to people who dont hold medical cards or
GP visit cards.

At-risk groups for the vaccine are:

All those aged 65 years and older
People including children with chronic illness requiring regular
medical follow-up such as chronic lung disease, chronic
heart disease, chronic neurological disorders,
neurodevelopmental disorders and diabetes
Those with lower immunity due to disease or treatment
All pregnant women. The vaccine can be given at any stage of
pregnancy.
Those with morbid obesity i.e. Body Mass Index 40
Residents of nursing homes, old people's homes and other
long stay facilities
Health care workers and carers of those in at-risk groups.

Vaccination remains the most effective means of preventing

infection by seasonal influenza viruses and can reduce severe
disease that can lead to hospitalisation and death.
Anyone who gets flu should stay at home, rest, drink plenty of
fluids and use over-the-counter remedies like paracetamol to
ease symptoms. Advice, tips, information and videos on
getting over flu and other common illnesses are available at a
new HSE website, www.undertheweather.ie.

Anyone in one of the high-risk categories should contact their

GP if they develop influenza symptoms. GPs may wish to
prescribe antivirals for those presenting with influenza in the
high risk groups.

Covering your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough
and sneeze (catch it), disposing of the tissue as soon as
possible (bin it) and cleaning your hands as soon as you can
(kill it) are important measures in helping prevent the spread
of germs and reducing the risk of transmission. Posters on
respiratory etiquette are available on the HPSC website.
ILI GP consultation rates give an indication of the overall
community levels of influenza activity in Ireland and are
reported by a network of sentinel GPs as part of a surveillance
system jointly run by the Irish College of General Practitioners,
the National Virus Reference Laboratory and the Health
Protection Surveillance Centre.

The weekly influenza surveillance reports and further

information on influenza and flu vaccine are available on the
HPSC website.
http://www.hpsc.ie/News/MainBody,16168,en.html

National Pandemic Influenza Plan
25.6.2007
http://health.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/nationalfluplan.pdf

Influenza

Latest C. difficile Weekly Report 22 February 2017

http://www.hpsc.ie/NotifiableDiseases/WeeklyIDReports
/File,2186,en.pdf
Cytomegalovirus infection in Ireland:
Seroprevalence, HLA Class I alleles
and implications
http://www.journalofclinicalvirology.com/article/S1386-
6532(15)00485-0/pdf
Influenza A(H1N1)pdm 2009 and influenza B virus co-
infection in hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients
during the 20152016 epidemic season in Israel
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/pdf/External_F0935.pdf
Influenza A(H1N1) NA-H274 detailed pyrosequencing
protocol for antiviral susceptibility testing 13 May 2009
http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/swineflu/
NA_DetailedPyrosequencing_20090513.pdf
RELENZA (zanamivir) inhalation powder, for oral
inhalation Initial U.S. Approval: 1999
https://www.gsksource.com/pharma/content/dam/GlaxoS
mithKline/US/en/Prescribing_Information/Relenza/pdf/R
ELENZA-PI-PIL-COMBINED.PDF

Statutory Notifications of Infectious Diseases reported in

Ireland via the Computerised Infectious Disease
Reporting (CIDR) system for:
Week 7, 2017
http://www.hpsc.ie/NotifiableDiseases/WeeklyIDReports/File,1425,en.pdf
Weekly U.S. Influenza Surveillance Report
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/pdf/External_F1706.pdf
The European Union summary report on antimicrobial resistance in zoonotic
and indicator bacteria from humans, animals and food in 2015
http://ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications/Publications/antimicrobial-resistance-
zoonotic-bacteria-humans-animals-food-EU-summary-report-2017.pdf
Executive summary EU Threats Influenza - Multistate (Europe) - Monitoring
2016-2017 season
http://ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications/Publications/communicable-disease-
threats-report-18-feb-2017.pdf

Week 6/2017 (6-12 February 2017)

Influenza activity remained elevated across the region with 24
of 43 countries reporting medium to very high intensity
and 22 reporting widespread influenza activity.
The proportion of influenza virus detections among sentinel
surveillance specimens decreased slightly to 42% from
45% in the previous week.
The great majority of influenza viruses detected were type A
(92%) and, of those subtyped, 99% were A(H3N2).
The number of new hospitalized laboratory-confirmed influenza
cases reported, primarily in people aged 65 years or older,
continued to decrease.
Season overview
Influenza activity started early in week 46/2016, which is the
earliest week that the overall influenza-positivity rate in
sentinel specimens reached 10% since the emergence of
A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses in 2009/10.
Since week 40/2016, influenza A viruses have predominated,
accounting for 96% of all sentinel detections; the great
majority (99%) of subtyped influenza A viruses from
sentinel sites being A(H3N2).
Confirmed cases of influenza virus type A infection reported
from hospitals have predominantly been in adults aged
over 65 years. Excess all-cause mortality has been
observed substantially in people aged 1564 years and
markedly in people aged 65 years or older in the majority
of the 19 reporting countries. This is commonly seen when
the predominant viruses circulating are A(H3N2).
Two-thirds of the A(H3N2) viruses genetically characterized
belong to a recently emerged genetic subclade (3C.2a1).
However, those that have been antigenically characterized
 are similar to the clade 3C.2a vaccine virus.
Recent vaccine effectiveness estimates, for all age groups
against A(H3N2) illness, from Canada (42%), from the US
(43%) and from Europe (38%) are consistent with
estimates from Sweden and Finland early in the season.
Given typically suboptimal vaccination coverage and the partial
effectiveness of influenza vaccines, rapid use of
neuraminidase inhibitors (NAIs) for laboratory-confirmed
or probable cases of influenza infection should be
considered for vaccinated and non-vaccinated patients at
risk of developing complications.
No reduced susceptibility to oseltamivir or zanamivir has been
observed for any of the 918 viruses tested so far this
season.
The progression of the season thus far has confirmed the
conclusions of the ECDC risk assessment on seasonal
influenza updated on 25 January 2017, namely expected
severe outcomes in the elderly related to the large
circulation of A(H3N2) putting some health care systems
under pressure.
Risk assessment of seasonal influenza, EU/EEA, 2016/2017 24 December 2016
http://ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications/Publications/Risk-assessment-seasonal-
influenza-2016-2017.pdf

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Expert

opinion on neuraminidase inhibitors for prevention and
treatment of influenza. ECDC- Stockholm; 2016

http://ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications/publications/neuraminidas
e-inhibitors-flu-consultation.pdf

World Health Organization. WHO recommendations on the composition of

influenza virus vaccines [homepage on the internet]. Geneva- WHO; 2016 [cited
22 Jan 2017
http://www.who.int/influenza/vaccines/virus/recommendations/201602_reco
mmendation.pdf?ua=1

Description of the process of influenza vaccine virus selection

and development
http://apps.who.int/gb/pip/pdf_files/Fluvaccvirusselection.pdf

Influenza virus infections in humans (February 2014)

This note is provided in order to clarify the differences among seasonal influenza,
pandemic influenza, and zoonotic or variant influenza

http://www.who.int/influenza/human_animal_interface/virology_laboratories_
and_vaccines/influenza_virus_infections_humans_feb14.pdf?ua=1
Standardization of the influenza A(H7N9) virus terminology 16 April 2013
http://www.who.int/influenza/human_animal_interface/influenza_h7n9/H7N9
VirusNaming_16Apr13.pdf
GLOBAL CONFERENCE ON ANIMAL WELFARE Guadalajara (Mexico), 6-8
December 2016
http://www.oie.int/eng/animal-welfare-conf2016/pdf/MX-Welfare-Leaflet-A5-
ENG-pages.pdf
H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza- Timeline of major
http://www.who.int/influenza/human_animal_interface/H5N1_avian_influenza_
update20141204.pdf?ua=1

Excess mortality in Europe in the winter season 2014/15,

in particular amongst the elderly.

http://www.euromomo.eu/methods/pdf/winter_season_summary_2015.pdf
Dr Alejandro Cravioto, internationally-recognized expert in vaccination
took over in January 2017 as the Chair of WHOs leading advisory
group on immunization
http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/251810/1/WER9148.pdf?ua=1
The next SAGE meeting will take place in Geneva from the 25-27 April
2017.
http://www.who.int/immunization/policy/sage/draft_list_agenda_items_april_2
017_sage_meeting.pdf?ua=1

SAGE is the principal advisory group to WHO for vaccines

and immunization. It is charged with advising WHO on
overall global vaccination policies and strategies,
http://www.who.int/immunization/sage/Full_SAGE_TORs.pdf?ua=1
GUIDANCE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF EVIDENCE-BASED VACCINATION-
RELATED RECOMMENDATIONS
http://www.who.int/immunization/sage/Guidelines_development_recommend
ations.pdf?ua=1
Vaccine Position Papers
http://www.who.int/wer/2004/en/wer7904.pdf?ua=1

Level of clinical protection conferred by a complete primary series of Haemophilus

influenzae type b (Hib) vaccination

http://www.who.int/immunization/position_papers/Hib_effectiveness.pdf?ua=
1

Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) Vaccination Position

Paper

July 2013
http://www.who.int/immunization/position_papers/PP_hib_july2013_summary
_presentation.pdf?ua=1
Polio Bulletin 2016 Issue No. 16 - Week 31 (as of 2 August 2016)
https://extranet.who.int/iris/restricted/bitstream/10665/246419/1/Polio-
Bulletin-2016-No-16-Week-31.pdf
Tetanus vaccines: WHO position paper February 2017
http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/254582/1/WER9206.pdf?ua=1
Prevention and Control of Infection
from Water Systems in Healthcare
Facilities Sub-Committee
http://www.hpsc.ie/AboutHPSC/ScientificCommittees/Sub-
CommitteesofHPSCSAC/WaterGuidelinesSub-Committee/File,14451,en.pdf

Policy Issues arising from the Exploration
and Extraction of Onshore Petroleum Bill
2016 and the EPA report on Hydraulic
Fracturing: Discussion
http://oireachtasdebates.oireachtas.ie/Debates%20Authoring/WebAttach
ments.nsf/($vLookupByConstructedKey)/committees~20170131~CC2/$Fi
le/Daily%20Book%20Unrevised.pdf?openelement
EU Directive 2013/37/EC amending Directive 2003/98/EC on the re-use of
public sector information
http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2013:175:0001:0008:E
N:PDF



Consolidated text of Directive 2003/38/EC as amended by Directive
2013/37/EU (link is external)
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:02003L0098-20130717&from=EN%22
Statutory Instrument No. 525/2015 - European Communities
(Re-use of Public Sector Information) (Amendment) Regulations
2015
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2015/si/525/made/en/pdf
Consolidated text of Statutory Instrument 279 of 2005 as amended by S.I.
103/2008 and S.I. 525/2015 For Reference Purposes Only
https://data.gov.ie/sites/default/files/pdf/Consolidated-PSI-Regs-2005-
2015-NOT-A-LEGAL-DOCUMENT.pdf

To: Heads of Departments/Offices

Circular 16/15: Re-use of Public Sector Information Criteria for charges that may be applied
by certain categories of public service body in permitting re-use of information

http://circulars.gov.ie/pdf/circular/per/2015/16.pdf
Biographical Notes for Members of the Open Data
Governance Board (ODGB)
Emer Coleman
Ms Coleman is an Associate with EY in the UK, Business
Development Director with TransportAPI, an open content
technology company and an experienced Digital Leader who
provides leadership development services in both the public and
private sector.
She is the former Director of Digital Projects for the Mayor of
London where she established the London Datastore facilitating
the creation of hundreds of products and applications built on open
public sector data. She is also the former Deputy Director of Digital
Engagement for Government Digital Services (Cabinet Office)
where she authored the Social Media Guidance for Government.
Emer holds a BA in History and Sociology from University College
Cork and an MPA from Warwick Business School. She was named
in Wired Magazines Top 100 Digital Power Influencers List 2011,
Silicon Republics Top 100 women in STEM 2014 and is the only
non US contributor to Beyond Transparency: Open Data and the
Future of Civic Innovation, Code for America 2013. You can find
out more on her website www.emercoleman.com
Professor Dietrich Rebholz-Schuhmann
Professor Dietrich Rebholz-Schuhmann is a medical doctor and a
computer scientist by training. His research is focused to
biomedical knowledge discovery based on semantic resources,
e.g. for drug discovery. In his scientific career over 20 years he
held positions as a director of research in the biotech new
economy; and principal investigator and group leader positions at
the European Bioinformatics Institute and the University of Zrich.
He is currently Professor of Informatics at the National University
of Ireland Galway, and is the Director of the Insight Centre for Data
Analytics in Galway.
Dennis Jennings
Dr Jennings has significant experience at senior leadership level,
especially in the areas of change management and innovation,
primarily with technology start-up companies.
During 22 years as Director of Computing Services in UCD, he
oversaw the transition from the initial punched card era to an
internet-based campus with thousands of computers by 1999.
Dennis is an internationally recognised Internet Pioneer and in
2014 was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame for his innovative
work during the 1980s.
In addition to his business and innovation experience, Dennis has
considerable academic and research experience, having provided
Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure
for research, teaching and administration in UCD; and also at a
national and international level.
Denis Parfenov
Denis Parfenov is a civic entrepreneur, co-founder and director of
Open Knowledge Ireland and an Open Knowledge Advisory
Council Member.
Denis is also the founder of ActiveCitizen, a grassroots, politically
neutral, community initiative which initiated, planned and
successfully executed a civic campaign which resulted in the Irish
governments commitment to the Open Government Partnership
(OGP).
Denis is passionate about empowering evidence-based choices by
making information (data) available and accessible through open
source technologies. He holds a Masters Degree in International
Business from University College Dublin and a Masters Degree in
International Relations from Dublin City University.
Suzanne Duke
Ms Duke is Director of Public Policy for Europe at LinkedIn, where
she focuses on internet policy and labour markets. A key part of
her role is to partner with Governments in harnessing LinkedIns
data resources to help policymakers better understand and react
to their labour markets.
Prior to undertaking this role Suzanne spent three years as Head
of Public Policy at Google Ireland. During that time she focussed
on a wide range of issues relevant to Open Data, including data
protection, copyright and intellectual property law.
From 2007 to 2011 Suzanne was Special Adviser to the then
Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources,
assisting in the development and implementation of national policy
around the rollout of broadband infrastructure and the smart
economy.
Cronan McNamara
Mr McNamara has developed considerable experience in data and
innovation during his career. As founder and CEO of Creme Global
for 10 years, he leads a senior management team which accesses,
gathers and curates public and private datasets from all over the
world and makes them available in their cloud-based analytical
models. This enables clients to gain deeper insights and ultimately
to make better decisions.
Creme Global delivers data-rich, cloud-based applications and
services to clients all over the world.
Cronan chairs the Irish Software Association in IBEC and is
involved in helping to make Ireland a better place to do business,
especially for indigenous technology companies.
Daith Mac Sthigh
Dr Mac Sthigh joined the Newcastle Law School as Reader in Law
in July 2014 and is the current Director of Research in the School.
He previously lectured at the University of East Anglia (UEA)
(2008-2012) and the University of Edinburgh (2012-14), where he
was also head of the IP, Media & Technology subject area. He
studied at Trinity College Dublin (LLB and PhD), the Open
University (PG Cert Social Science) and UEA (PG Cert Higher
Education). He is co-editor of the Dublin University Law Journal.
Daiths interests fall into two broad categories. The first is law and
technology (including topics such as audio-visual media law, the
regulation of the video games industry, and Internet infrastructure
and domain names), and the second is public law. Daith is a
member of CREATe, the centre for copyright and new business
models in the creative economy (funded by Research Councils
UK). In 2011, Daith gave evidence to the Leveson Inquiry.
Dr Sandra Collins
Dr Collins is Director of the National Library. She is a recognised
leader in the area of Open Data, with extensive leadership
experience (Director and senior management roles), and wide
experience across the public sector, industry and academia.
Sandra was previously the Director of the Digital Repository of
Ireland (DRI) in the Royal Irish Academy, where she established
and led an ambitious national research centre developing both
policy and e-infrastructure for digital preservation of cultural and
social data.
She serves on many international and national policy advisory
groups and steering committees, such as Chair of the ALLEA (all
European Academies) international E-Humanities Working Group,
Rapporteur for the Horizon 2020 Expert Advisory Group on
European Research Infrastructures, member of the Irish National
Steering Committee on Open Access Policy, and the Irish Advisory
Group for Open Government Data.
In 2013 Sandra was named as one of the Top 38 Irish Technology
Women (Technology Voice, Intel), and in 2014 as one of Silicon
Republics Top 100 Women in Technology. Inspiring Ireland, a
national digital cultural project she led, won three Irish
eGovernment Awards in 2015 and was nominated for a World
Summit Award in 2016.
Ashling Cunningham
Ms Cunningham is Chief Information Officer for Ervia (formerly
Bord Gis ireann) with responsibility across all areas of
Information, Communications and Technology.
A proven business focussed executive level technology leader who
has successfully provided the technology vision and strategy in the
development and implementation of the enterprise wide
information technology programme.
Ashling is responsible for Information Security and Data Protection
in Ervia. She is also responsible for developing and implementing
the data strategy, data quality and data architecture across the
Ervia organisation.
During her time as Ervia/Bord Gis CIO, Ashling has managed the
implementation and operation of Financial and Billing system
solutions; and led the design and implementation of the Ervia IT
operating model including process, organisation and governance.
http://www.per.gov.ie/en/open-data-governance-board/
PAYING DIVIDENDS A Report on The Atlantic Philanthropies Investment in
Dementia in Ireland
http://www.atlanticphilanthropies.org/app/uploads/2017/01/Dementia-
Paying-Dividends.pdf
GLEN briefing note on access to Civil Marriage
http://www.glen.ie/attachments/GLEN_Briefing_Note_on_Equal_Access_to_
Civil_Marriage.pdf
Know Your Rights; The Rights and Obligations of Civil Partners and Other
Same-Sex Couples
http://www.glen.ie/attachments/Know_Your_Rights_-
_Civil_Partnership.pdf



Kevin C. OHiggins, retired High Court judge, was appointed by the
government to act as the sole member of the commission.
http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Commission_of_Investigation_Certain_Matt
ers_relative_to_the_Cavan_Monaghan_Division_of_the_Garda_S%C3%ADoch
na_Final_Report.pdf/Files/Commission_of_Investigation_Certain_Matters_
relative_to_the_Cavan_Monaghan_Division_of_the_Garda_S%C3%ADochna_
Final_Report.pdf

Guerin report
http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2014/05/guerin-report-2.pdf

Luke Ming Flanagan calls for

McCabe to be appointed Garda
Commissioner
Patrick Conboy
25 Mar 2014

PSTYLE=WINT Web Intro Roscommon-South Leitrim

Independent TD Luke Ming Flanagan has called on the
government to appoint whistleblower Sergeant Maurice
McCabe as Commissioner of An Garda Sochna.
PSTYLE=WINT Web Intro
Roscommon-South Leitrim Independent TD Luke Ming Flanagan
has called on the government to appoint whistleblower Sergeant
Maurice McCabe as Commissioner of An Garda Sochna.

The damage done to the confidence of potential whistleblowers

has been enormous, Deputy Flanagan said. By appointing
Sergeant Maurice McCabe as Commissioner of the Gardai, that
confidence would be restored. It would demonstrate clearly that
our state and our government want to give confidence to all those
out there in the HSE, in the Public Service, in Semi-state
companies, in teaching, in banking, in all walks of life to come
forward and to make public wrong doings within their areas.
The long awaited Whistle Blowers legislation would be minor in
relation to the impact such an appointment would have.
He added that there was no barrier to prevent Sergeant McCabe
from being appointed: Technically they [the government] can
appoint anyone from within the Garda Sochna. Sergeant
McCabe can and should become Commissioner McCabe.
Deputy Flanagan also called on the government to reinstate retired
Garda John Wilson. He has suffered greatly for his courage and
he has stuck by his principles, he explained. He tried his best to
work through the situation, but the Garda culture took its toll and
he was forced out of his job. We can help promote a more open
and honest culture within the Garda by reinstating John Wilson.
A judgement is due later this morning on Alan Shatters appeal
against a High Court decision not to quash certain parts of the
Guerin report.
The report was highly critical of the way the former Minister for
Justice handled allegations of Garda misconduct in the
Cavan/Monaghan division.

Alan Shatter stepped down as Minister for Justice on May 7,

2014 - the day after the Guerin report found that he failed to
properly investigate Sergeant Maurice McCabes allegations
of corruption and malpractice in Cavan/Monaghan.
A year later, he challenged its findings on the basis he was
not given a chance to put forward his side of the story, but the
High Court dismissed his arguments.
One year one from that, the OHiggins Commission of Inquiry
cleared him of any wrongdoing.
He later he argued in the Court of Appeal that he had a right to
be heard, that simple fairness demanded it and a serious
injustice had befallen him and damaged his good name and
livelihood.
He used the findings of the OHiggins inquiry as proof that he
did nothing wrong.
A judgement on his appeal is due to be made later this
morning.
Northern Ireland and the EU Referendum- the outcome,
options and opportunities ... Ireland. It documents the reaction
and response in the aftermath of the vote, ... This produced a
largely misinformed, misleading and often nasty

https://cora.ucc.ie/bitstream/handle/10468/3509/2362.pdf?sequence=4
United Kingdom and Ireland in politicians, and in the hope ..... live
together, by coming out in strength in referendums,. North and South
http://www.britishirish.org/assets/26th-plenary-session-summaries.pdf
Part One: Referenda required to amend Irish Constitution. Referenda on
accession to EEC, the Single European Act, Maastricht and Amsterdam.
Development by courts of rules for fairness of referendum campaigns.
Referendum Acts and Referendum Commission.
Part Two: First Nice Referendum dominated by euro-anxiety, Irish
neutrality and enlargement. Second referendum on same subject not
unusual and acceptable according to domestic criteria. Concessions and
clarifications. Effect on the Convention on the Future of Europe.
Part Three: implications for the Constitutional Treaty.
Irelands Neutrality and European Security Policy Integration Master
European Studies
http://essay.utwente.nl/62218/1/Revised_Thesis_Patrick.pdf

Irish Neutrality? By Captain Rory Finnegan
http://www.raco.ie/attachments/068_1_2_irishneutrality.pdf


EU MILITARY STRUCTURES IMPACT ON IRISH
NEUTRALITY
Sep 12, 2013
Martina Anderson MEP speaking in European parliament on EU Military
Structures - impact on Irish neutrality
Speaking from Strasbourg this evening on the EUs
Report on military structures: state of play and future
prospects, Sinn Fin MEP, Martina Anderson was
strongly critical of its content.
Martina Anderson commented:
One of the reasons that the people of Ireland were so
opposed to the Lisbon Treaty was the fear of its
impact on Irish neutrality and the further drive
towards the militarisation of the European Union.
But even then I dont believe that the Irish people
foreseen a report like this being adopted in the
European Parliament.
The tone of its content Sabre-rattling, war-
mongering and jingoism is certain to make people
across the European Union even more critical of the
EU and to view it as an increasingly militarised and
aggressive body.
I have no doubt that, if people are given a vote, there
will be huge resistance to the sort of changes to the
Treaties proposed in this report.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA4kTc
bPN1o
Leaders Questions Shannon and Syria
Sep 19, 2013
Clare questions the Taoiseach about rendition flights and the ongoing use
of Shannon airport by the U.S. military.
The American leaders, and Israeli are war criminals, and should be tried
before the Hague as soon as possible. This Includes Bush, and his war
mongering false flag regime, and the present habitual liar Obama, and his
Zionist masters. It's not the American people, but the garbage that has
taken the Government over that are the guilty. Kenny is a puppet of the
Zionist criminals also, be it by blackmail, bribes, kickbacks, or threats, he
doing the war mongers bidding.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1Mf_3
FclHU

EU crisis management after the Lisbon Treaty:
civilmilitary ...
http://docplayer.net/storage/20/441263/1
487883030/iLne2oVW62Zv41kC2NVDfQ/44
1263.pdf
Simon Coveney can lead Fine Gael to
become a party for social justice
Simon Coveney has shown that his is prepared to risk his political
neck in order to do the right thing, writes Victoria White.

Our columnist Victoria White thinks Simon Coveney deserves
support for his vision of Fine Gael as a party for social justice.
Do you agree?
(New readers, please note registration is required to read this
column.
Social Justice Ireland
May 27, 2011
A Conspiracy of Common Interest
Two items that illustrate the primacy that the political class in
Ireland enjoys over the mass of other citizens have appeared in the
media within days of each other.
A report in the Irish Examiner on May 16th draws on the latest
Socio-Economic Review by Social Justice Ireland to present some
stark facts about wealth and poverty in the so-called Republic of
Ireland. According to Social Justice Ireland (SJI), in 2009 the top
10% of Irish households received a staggering 25.83% of the
countrys total disposable income, while the bottom 10% were
forced to make do with a meagre 2.39%.
Contained within that top 10% of households are, of course, those
members of the political class who wield enormous power which
allows them to make, or shape, or sell to the public, those
government policies that maintain and even widen the economic
gap between the few at the top and the many in between and
particularly at the bottom. If we had access to the figures for the
top 5%, and especially the top 1%, then the disparity would be
even more obscene.
What of the other end of the spectrum? According to SJIs Review,
close to 630,000 Irish citizens are below the poverty line, including
up to 220,000 children. 90,000 of these citizens are what is known
as the working poor they give up their week to a job, the
reward for which toil is a wage that is not sufficient to lift them
even marginally out of poverty.
As for the definition of what constitutes the poverty line it is
pitched as being below 60% of the median income. In plain terms
this amounts, in 2011, to the sum of 222.18 a week, a sum that
would not cover the cost of a dinner for two in a moderate
restaurant, or a visit to a fashionable hairdressing salon for one
well-heeled woman, or a round of golf for a well-heeled man. But
222.18 is the amount that the other citizens, if they can be
deemed to be citizens in the real sense of the word, must live on
week after week after week, the entire sum of money available to
cover the cost of staying alive for another seven days, hoping that
no unexpected emergencies arise.
Living slightly above this poverty line are those who must toil for
just marginally more, with no expectation that they can do more
than get by, with a bit of luck. No luxuries, no small nest-egg for
the rainy day, no margin of error in the spend on shopping. Grind
a week in, then another, then another, hoping for the best.
But this rotten government, the latest in a long line of rotten
governments, has plans to make that daily and weekly grind even
more hopeless. It, like its predecessors, does not have to destroy
any vestigial hope that the poor and the working poor might have
of some small respite from grinding poverty, it has chosen to.
Remember that figure the top 10% of households receive 25.83%
of national disposable income! Yet this government, a coalition
that includes a political party that pretends to be a social
democratic labour party, has set its face in one direction only
away from the wealth of the few and towards the miserable
income of the many. This is a preposterous and indefensible choice
for any political party that would claim to be even half-civilised.
Not content with imposing wage and social welfare reductions on
the poorest in society, this government has drawn more of them
into the tax net, hit them with a new universal social charge and
raised the cost of public services. On top of that, this rotten
government is doing the bidding of that top 10% by again
targetting low-paid workers, intending to dismantle Joint Labour
Committee rates of remuneration for overtime and weekend work
among other things.
In this latest assault, the government is egged on by large sections
of the media who provide air-space and page-space to employers
representative bodies such as the Irish Business and Employers
Confederation (IBEC), the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises
Association (ISME) and the Irish Hotels Federation, among others.
This brings us to that second item in the media. The Minister for
Communications, Pat Rabbitte, a member of the same Labour
Party that has chosen to side with the rich against the poor, has
stated that he is against capping the salaries of State broadcaster
RTEs top presenters on the grounds that these people are not
staff, but contractors. This tidy little arrangement allows these
presenters to negotiate terms and conditions which would seem
like Lotto winnings to the poor and the working poor in society.
The last year in which the earnings of the most highly-paid RTE
presenters was released was in 2008. Pat Kenny was paid a salary
of 950,976, Gerry Ryan received 629,865 with Marian Finucane
on 570,000, Ryan Tubridy on 533,333 and Joe Duffy on 408,000.
It is likely that each of these presenters is able to call on other
earnings to supplement the RTE payments. Those salaries put
them into, or very near to, the top 10% of Irish households.
These presenters, between them, occupy some of the most
important slots on national radio and television schedules.
Between them they wield extraordinary power to dictate and
shape the agenda. They are intermediaries between the major
players in Irelands social, political and economic worlds, and the
people. They choose what items are to be covered on their
programmes and in what way. They choose, with their producers
and editors, whose voices will be heard, what questions will be
asked and in what way, and how interviews and discussions will
be conducted and often influenced by the intervention of the
presenter. They are, by those means, opinion formers. They set the
agenda for the day and the tone in which each issue will be
presented to the people. They choose to cover certain items and
not to cover others. They invite who they want, or dont invite
others. They endorse or dismiss views and opinions.
In effect, what these presenters do, and many of their colleagues
throughout the rest of the broadcasting and print media do too, is
to shape the mindset of the most powerful block of voters, the
middle class, to make them compliant enough so that the status
quo is not threatened, to the advantage of all of the political class,
and the wealthiest in society.
The Minister for Communications could exercise his powers to
require RTE to change the way in which it employs its presenters,
and do it in the interest of transparently ethical broadcasting to the
benefit of the audience who live, they are told, in a democracy. He
could force RTE to change from the practice of using contractors
and let these people either work as staff, with capped salaries, or
let them take their chance in the commercial world over which the
Minister does not have the same remit.
But the Minister, of course, belongs to the same political class as
Pat Kenny and the rest of the contractors do, along with the top
10% who take that staggering 25.83% of the countrys disposable
income, and the comparatively wealthy 10% below that group
business men and women, lawyers, doctors, engineers, executives,
senior media workers, higher academics, and so on. The Minister
has chosen to leave things as they are, just as he and his party have
chosen to leave the wealthy as they are and target the most
vulnerable instead.
Two news items that show up the travesty of describing this place
as a republic. It is not a republic, unless it is a banana republic, not
quite the same thing. It is a hegemonic state, a plutarchy,
effectively a dictatorship under the control of the political class,
engineered to their advantage by manipulating the flow of
essential information and controlling the conduct of debate and
discussion, all inhibiting reasoned and informed democratic
decision-making by the citizens. It exists and persists only
through the process of manufacturing consent.
This plutarchy, this dictatorship, represents a tacit conspiracy of
common interest by the wealthiest and the most well-connected
against the impoverished the wretched of this land. What is
needed to overthrow it is a conspiracy of common interest by all
who believe in true democracy and the enlightened and
progressive republic.
Social Justice Irelands Paper for
IMF/ECB/EC Troika
17th October 2011
Making choices in precarious times such as these a country, a
government, a society or an international institution defines itself by:
The cuts it makes; the people it protects; its effectiveness on
economic growth/jobs; its actions on public services; the values
underpinning its choices.
break
In making decisions on these areas nothing is inevitable. Choices are
always being made. These choices are based on an analysis of the
present situation and on a vision of the future towards which
Ireland should be moving in the view of those who make the
decisions.
Social Justice Ireland believes that choices should be aimed at moving
Ireland towards being a society characterised by social justice where
human rights are respected, human dignity is protected, human
development is facilitated and the environment is respected and
protected.
https://www.socialjustice.ie/sites/default/files/attach/publication/3067/2011
-07-11-socialjusticeirelandpaperforimfecbecfinal.pdf

DAA accused of using

Cork transatlantic service
as 'trojan horse' to
increase flights in Dublin
February 23 2017
Alan Kelly. Photo: Steve Humphreys
THE Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) has
been accused of using the introduction of a
transatlantic service to Cork as a "Trojan
Horse" to increase the number of flights in
Dublin.
The claim was made by Labour TD Alan Kelly at a meeting
of the Dil's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) as
Norwegian Air International (NAI) announced details of
the new routes that offer one way tickets from 69.
Mr Kelly welcomed the announcment of the flights for
Cork and other Irish airports but questioned why the
majortiy of flights are to and from Dublin.
He said the planned routes were "hung off the concept that
the flights would be in and out of Cork," Mr Kelly claimed.
"Whats being announced today as I understand it is 12
flights for Dublin, six flights for Belfast, four flights for
Shannon and three flights for Cork. Now as far as I'm
concerned this is a Trojan horse."
He added: "They effectively have pushed up the passenger
numbers as regards Dublin."
A DAA operates Dublin and Cork airports.
A spokesman responded to Mr Kelly's remarks pointing
out its "statutory responsibility to grow traffic at its
airports" and he highlighted growth at Cork Airport.
During the PAC meeting Mr Kelly quizzed Transport
Department secretary general Graham Doyle on when his
officials first heard flights to Dublin would be announced
by NAI..
Mr Doyle said he heard about it in the last couple of weeks
but couldn't say exactly when officials in the aviation
division of the department were told. He promised to find
out and report back to the PAC.
Mr Kelly said he wanted to see correspondence between
the Department and the DAA on the matter.
"What we have today is an announcement which is
effectively part of an agenda to bring a third terminal into
Dublin... And obviously to get another runway," Mr Kelly
claimed.
He added: "Now I welcome bringing in Norwegian...
However, the way in which this was done needs to be
looked at, needs to be investigated."
"Because if you look at the projections as regards all the
other airports in the country. Dublin from 2012 to now has
gone from 81pc to 86pc of all passengers.
"All other airports have gone downwards."
Mr Kelly repeated that he wanted to know who knew
about the Dublin flights in the Department.
Mr Doyle said he would get that information. He said the
Department was supportive of the NAI announcement and
pointed out to Mr Kelly that he had also welcomed the
flights.
PAC chairman Sen Fleming asked that a deatiled note on
the matter be sent to members by the Department.
A DAA spokesman said it has a "statutory responsibility to
grow traffic at its airports for the benefit of the Irish
economy" and that the agency is "delighted" that NAI
announced transtlantic flights from Dublin and Cork from
July.
"This is a great day for Cork Airport and for Dublin
Airport," he added, saying the routes will boost tourism
and deliver economic benefits throughout the country.
"Management at Cork Airport, supported by DAA, has
worked tirelessly with Norwegian to secure this new
service and today after a 56 year wait, Cork is now a
transatlantic airport," the spokesman added.
"Cork Airport, was the State's second fastest growing
airport last year with traffic up 8pc to 2.2 million
passengers," he said.
"This growth further solidified Cork Airport's position as
the second largest airport in the State. Passenger numbers
at Dublin increased by 11pc to almost 28 million."
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/daa-accused-of-using-cork-
transatlantic-service-as-trojan-horse-to-increase-flights-in-dublin-
35476919.html

Commissioner says
McCabe case has
impacted on perception
of Garda force

February 23 2017
1
Noirin O'Sullivan was speaking after the force had been mired in
controversy
Garda Commissioner Nirn OSullivan has
admitted the Maurice McCabe controversy
has had a huge impact in terms of
perception of the force.
However, the commissioner, who has rejected calls for her
resignation in recent weeks, insisted work was being done
to ensure attitudes and values are in place to prevent a
similar controversy from arising again.
Speaking at a meeting of the Policing Authority, Ms
OSullivan also said she welcomed the fact the Charleton
tribunal will be conducted in public.
She insisted her appearances before the public inquiry
would not deflect her from plans to reform the force.
The commissioner said she had put a team in place to deal
with the needs of the Charleton tribunal and she did not
expect it to distract from the reform programme, which
she described as the largest in the forces 94-year history.
Commissioner OSullivan said there had been significant
controversies and crises over the past three years and
vacancies at senior levels in the force, but these issues had
not stopped it from tackling major issues such as property
crime, organised crime and dissident activity.
The tribunal is to investigate the extent of Commissioner
OSullivans knowledge of an alleged smear campaign
against Sgt McCabe after he began whistleblowing about
the abuse of the penalty points system.
Former head of the Garda Press Office, Superintendent
David Taylor, claimed in a protected disclosure he was
directed to send text messages to garda, journalists and
politicians about Sgt McCabe and that Ms OSullivan was
aware of the campaign to undermine him.
This has been denied by the commissioner.
She was not asked direct questions by the Policing
Authority about her alleged role in the controversy today.
Authority chairperson Josephine Feehily said it was
restricted in the range of questions which could be
directed to the commissioner, who was accountable to the
Government.
She said this was a clear statutory distinction the authority
had to be mindful of and meant they could not ask
questions about ongoing investigations, including
tribunals of inquiry.
Questions about the controversy were confined to the
impact it has had on the perception of the force and the
challenge of maintaining public confidence.
Ms OSullivan said negative sentiment was something
she encountered every single day.
She said that if a garda member was waking up to negative
headlines every day it would of course have an impact.
The commissioner said the force was working to manage
the impact on confidence and to reassure people the job
is being done.
She said trust was a very fragile thing and was earned one
encounter at a time.
The commissioner said the force enjoyed very high levels
of trust from the community and reforms needed to be
pressed ahead with, including embedding a code of ethics.
Authority member Maureen Lynott asked what was being
done to address information given to the media
maliciously, loosely or casually.
Ms OSullivan admitted there had been concerns
expressed by the judiciary, public and GSOC about
unauthorised leaks and said she took data protection very
seriously.
She said the issue had not been perfected yet, but she
was working to ensure that policies were transparent and
that only appropriate information was given out to the
media.
She said it was very important for the force to have
processes which protect individuals.
The meeting also heard that An Garda Sochna is to have
a joint initiative with Transparency International to
encourage members to speak up about issues.
Deputy Commissioner John Twomey said a memorandum
was being agreed in relation to support to garda who wish
to raise concerns.
This will involve a phone line and also support during the
process, he said.
Commissioner OSullivan said: People will have a place
they can go outside the organisation, but linking into the
organisation.


http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/commissioner-says-mccabe-
case-has-impacted-on-perception-of-garda-force-35477109.html

Irish top authorities
appear corrupt to the core
Niall O'Dowd @niallodowd February 16, 2017

Kafka's novel The Trial is one of his best-known works. It

tells the story of a man arrested and prosecuted by a
remote, inaccessible authority, with the nature of his crime
revealed neither to him nor to the reader.
It was published in 1925, but readers in Ireland today would
recognize its parallel in what happened to whistleblower
Garda Sergeant Maurice McCabe, who exposed corruption in
his own police force and was subjected to horrific public
indignity with outrageous charges made against him --
charges he was never even aware of.
It seemed the state threw everything imaginable against
him, all of it false, all of it secret. His offense was telling the
truth.
It included an investigation on whether McCabe had taken a
computer that had child pornography on it, even though he
was not even attached to the garda station it disappeared
from.
Then there was the resurfacing of a previous allegation of
fondling the daughter of a police officer he had named and
shamed on corruption charges.
The case was so weak the Director of Public Prosecutions
gave it no standing whatsoever, a very rare finding where
child sexual abuse is concerned.
What happened next to McCabe will send a chill down the
spine of every liberal and libertarian across the social and
political spectrum.
Encouraged by gardai top brass to speak out on corruption
after several notorious cases, McCabe took the top cops at
their word and soon had identified massive corruption in
the penalty points system where points on licenses were
handed down for drunk driving, careless driving, speeding,
etc.
McCabe found from a study of the Pulse system used by
gardai that a large number of cases, usually involving
prominent figures, were deliberately scrubbed from the
record of the offender.
When he submitted his evidence a bombshell burst when it
was discovered the police commissioner himself was one of
those who had points illegally scrubbed.
The commissioner tried to bully his way out of the findings
but ultimately was forced to retire early. The minister for
justice who had scorned McCabes evidence also was forced
to resign.
McCabes reward was a flood of anonymous death threats
and a meeting with top police officials who instructed him
not to access the Pulse computer system, thereby making
him powerless as an officer.
But there was worse, much worse. The old accusation
against McCabe, thrown out by the states chief prosecutor
as having no merit, surfaced again in the files of the Irish
children's protection agency, Tusla.
There was a vicious twist. New fake evidence of vaginal and
anal penetration had been added by individuals unknown.
Someone sent the file to top police officials, and never
informed McCabe of its existence.
Great investigative work by the Prime Time investigative
program on RTE discovered that the file existed and was
being used against McCabe with every major journalist and
politician.
The depth and extent of the smear was horrific. It also spoke
to a level of corruption and collusion between two agencies
to destroy one brave man.
At the time of writing the government is in complete
disarray as the news has broken. There may be an election
over it.
More damaging perhaps is the breadth of the collusion and
conspiracy to bring down an innocent man. It truly beggars
belief.
Heres the full investigatory piece on Prime Time:
Irish top authorities are corrupt to the core
Criminals in Uniform - Re- Garda
whistleblower Maurice Mccabe February 16,
2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVhyzJ-
u4_8
readers in Ireland today would recognize its parallel in what
happened to whistleblower Garda Sergeant Maurice McCabe,
who exposed corruption in his own police force and was
subjected to horrific public indignity with outrageous charges
made against him -- charges he was never even aware of.""
Primetime video attached, in case anyone missed it first time
round
Fianna Fil pose with Tesco
strikers then vote against
Sinn Fin trade union rights
Bill
23 February 2017

Fianna Fil TD Barry Cowen on the Tesco picket line in County Offaly

RUAIR DOYLE

Fianna Fil were happy to be seen to

stand with workers if only for five
minutes and a photo
IN A STUNNING DISPLAY of brass neck politics, Fianna Fil voted
against the Sinn Fin Right to Access Bill to ensure that trade
unions have access to their members in the workplace just days
after Fianna Fil frontbench TD Barry Cowen had his photo taken
with Tesco strikers.
Having been all too happy to have a quick snap taken with the workers
of their local Tesco stores, there was not a hint of hesitation before
they went to the lobbies and voted on Thursday against the most basic
legislative protections of a workers right to union membership.
The Industrial Relations (Right to Access) (Amendment) Bill 2016 was
tabled by Waterford TD David Cullinane. It would have meant that a
representative of a trade union would be entitled to enter a workplace
to speak with union members or recruit potential members and that
workers must be allowed attend at least one union meeting a year, all
subject to reasonable conditions.
These seemingly modest proposals would have signalled that the
current Dil was serious about protecting collective bargaining in
Ireland at a time of serious industrial unrest.
While Fine Gael have been content to fan the flames of turmoil among
the workers in education, health, and public transport, Fianna Fil were
happy to be seen to stand with workers, if only for five minutes and a
photo.
The value of their sincerity was seen to be false as they cast their
ballots. Workers rights are the latest victim of New Politics as Fianna
Fil waver between Government and Opposition as the mood takes
them.
Tesco workers are on the picket line to try and block unilateral changes
to contracts of employment. When Sinn Fin representatives stood
with them, it was with the authority of putting forward legislation to
protect their rights; when Fianna Fil went down to the picket line, it
was with the intention of getting a handy tweet.

Pilot scheme to use
cameras to monitor
green bin content
Updated / Thursday, 23 Feb

Panda Waste Management says there is a level of 40%

contamination of recycling waste
A pilot scheme to use cameras to monitor the
contents of green bins is to be rolled out to 12,000
Panda Waste customers in Dn
Laoghaire/Rathdown.
The move is a response by Panda Waste
Management to what it says is a level of 40%
contamination of recycling waste.
Speaking on RT's Drivetime, Des Crinion of Panda
Waste said the contamination of green bin waste is a
major problem and the company is also considering
fines.
"It's unbelievable what comes in in the bins.
"It's supposed to be material that we can sort out and
use as raw material to go back into the manufacturing
process, but we see everything from nappies, which
is number one, food waste, which is huge, and also
textiles."
Mr Crinion explained that the camera will be on the
back of the refuse truck and as each green bin is
tipped out a high-speed camera will take hi-definition
photos of the material being emptied.
He said that the rubbish is linked to each individual
bin by a microchip and also by Global Positioning
System tracking on the trucks.
This enables the company to approach the person
who has discarded the contaminated waste and ask
them to stop this practise and if they do not stop they
may be fined.
Dublin City Independent Councillor Cieran Perry, who
was involved in the anti-bin charges campaign, said
the issue highlights the problem that was foreseen
with people trying to avoid paying waste charges.

He says the argument is still the same in that he

believes a public service like waste management
should be paid for from general taxation.
Mr Perry said there is only a small number of people
who are contaminating green bin waste and he does
not accept that 40% of people are doing this.
He said he believes many people are ignorant of
what can be recycled and what cannot and most
contamination is not deliberate.
Mr Crinion said that his company hopes the use of
cameras will help to determine who is contaminating
waste deliberately or out of ignorance.
Anyone caught contaminating the green bin waste
will be given "one chance", according to Mr Crinion,
and after that they will be charged the green bin as a
black bin if the issue persists.
He said the company is confident it will be able to
match the offending waste to the household by
identifying the bin.

OLIVER CALLAN Records

are not the only thing
Taoiseach Enda Kenny
will leave broken
'To help him understand, here are some of his
other record-breaking landmarks in office'
.article__header
COMMENT
BY OLIVER CALLAN 23rd February 2017,

the scenario a failing firm decides its chief exec is

a disaster and must resign.
But the CEO wants to stay on for two months to break a
silly record as the longest serving boss. They decide to let
him, despite collapsing profits and future uncertainty.
Enda Kenny is set to head to the White House before
announcing when he plans to step aside
It would be unthinkable in any modern business, yet that is
precisely what the Fine Gael party is doing, and the
company happens to be Ireland Inc.
Enda Kenny is desperate to become the longest-serving
Fine Gael Taoiseach, a record held by former Blueshirt
John A Costello since 1957.
You cannot underestimate how much this sort of trivial
nonsense occupies the small minds of men with big
offices.
Enda has lived in a chauffeur-driven bubble for the last six
years, earning 200 grand a year, while EU leaders shower
him with praise for being a good lapdog.
He hasnt been able to keep abreast of ordinary life. To
help him understand, here are some of his other record-
breaking landmarks in office.

RANT FOR MARGARETTA feb 4th 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4smSlT
0N7xo&feature=youtube_gdata_player
It is depressing to think that one of these under-achievers will
soon be Taoiseach and leader of our country. I can't think of
even one positive contribution any of them have made to
politics or the lives of citizens since Fine Gael got into power
in 2011.

Varadkar was Health Minister in the previous Kenny

government and his only contribution as a Minister was to
comment on every disaster that unfolded on his watch as if he
was just a bystander and say "sorry". In his latest Ministry he
is equally invisible and spends most of his time on self
promotion.
Coveney is another passenger and had to be dragged kicking
and screaming to admit that there was a chronic housing crisis
and shamed into a (mild)response by the occupation of Apollo
House. His answer has been to hand over valuable property to
the born again builders to let them profit gorge once again
(and maybe house a few families on waiting lists). Apart from
that he is the man who was hanging around the Bilderberg
Group secret get-together with his Blueshirt pal, the chairman
of Golden Sachs Peter Sutherland. Just what he was doing
there God only knows, but you can bet it wasn't representing
the interests of the Irish people.

Fitzgerald has been a disastrous Justice Minister, murdering

gangs are running amok and her Garda Commissioner and the
whole garda force are mired in controversy. Her only
contribution seems to be to crack down on prostitution and
make the lives of prostitutes more dangerous by driving the
"oldest profession" underground. And let us not forget that
Fitzgerald was Children's Minister while the Tusla/McCabe
scandal started to evolve.

Bruton is the bungling clown who made a hames of ousting

Kenny in the failed coup in 2010. What has he achieved? Can
you think of anything?

The new kid on the block is the arrogant Harris, a jump up who
thought he would sort the health service but has made it
worse (if that is possible). He has bitten off more than he can
chew and is tired of the whole health caper already and wants
an easier number - Taoiseach.

God Save Ireland from these idiots!


The Government may have Won the Confidence Vote but they
should not have won it - it is Now time for the People of
Ireland to make a Stand and Demand the immediate
Resignations of All Government Tds and the Resignation of
Noirin O' Sullivan, Enda Kenny is Due to go to the White House
for St Patricks Day to Present the Bowl of Shamrock to Trump
(Not In Our Name) which is Why i have picked 8th March (1
week before trip) also this gives enough time for people to
Share this Event - Get involved in this - this is about saving
Our Country before its too late - i hope as many of you good
People in Ireland will get involved - this is the only way we are
going to get change and the Government to Resign -
Facebook posts just aren't going to do it - Time for a Peaceful
and Direct 24/48 hour Protest (or longer if need be) - Time For
Change.
Shatters legal firm receives second-
highest fees from CFA
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Gordon Deegan
The legal firm established by former justice minister Alan Shatter
has received more than 660,000 in fees from Tusla, the Child and
Family Agency (CFA), to date this year.

According to data released by Tusla in response to a Freedom of

Information request, the amount paid out to Dublin firm Gallagher
Shatter Solicitors in the year to the end of December 17 totalled
669,423, including Vat.
The firm which claims to be the first in the country to establish a
separate family law unit received the second-highest amount in
legal fees this year from the CFA towards representing guardians ad
litem in the family law proceedings.
Mr Shatter joined the firm in 1976 and is widely regarded as one of
the authorities on family law in Ireland, having written extensively
on the subject.
advertisement

Earlier this year, the HSE confirmed that Gallagher Shatter Solicitors
received 392,646 in fees for acting for guardians ad litem in 2013.
The highest amount paid out this year by Tusla to solicitors
representing guardians ad litem was to Pol OMurchu & Co Solicitors,
which received 1.14m in fees.
The figures show that the total spend on solicitors representing
guardians ad litem who provide an independent voice for children
in family law proceedings totals 5.5m in 2014 to date.
This compares to a spend of 4.85m for 2013 to solicitors
representing guardians ad litem a jump of 13.5% in one year.
Other solicitors in receipt of payments from the CFA representing
guardians ad litem to feature in the top 10 recipients are: Gerard
OBrien, 587,628; Rosemary Gantly, 525,425; Caldwell & Robinson
Solicitors, 502,542; Gary Irwin, 315,421; Augustus Cullen, Law
300,281; Noonan Linehan Carroll Coffey Solicitors, 214,548;
McCarthy & Associates, 166,788; and St Johns Solicitors, 152,484.
In briefing documents prepared for the then childrens minister,
Charlie Flanagan, in May, the secretary general of the department
noted that legal costs at Tusla were amongst the issues giving rise
to expenditure problems for the agency and referred to the
inadequacy of the budget transferred from the HSE for this
purpose.
The agency has stated that although future legal costs would be
reduced, this will not be evidenced in 2014 as a consequence of the
level of inherited commitments.
The current childrens minister, James Reilly, has stated that Tusla is
engaged in a comprehensive and ongoing process of reform of its
interactions with the courts system, with the aim of reducing the
considerable legal costs the agency faces.
Via Padd
drugs politics and police


[Sunday Times security correspondent John Mooney,
above, and Justice Minister Alan Shatter and Garda
Commissioner Martin Callinan, top]
Last night Mr Mooney, who broke the GSOC bugging
story last Sunday; Padraig MacLochlainn, Sinn Fin
Donegal TD; Michelle Mulherin, Fine Gael Mayo TD;
and Mark Kelly, director of the Irish Council for Civil
Liberties, appeared on RTs Late Debate with Audrey
Carville last night to talk about the story.
During their discussion, Mr Mooney set out to explain
what he believed was behind the surveillance, while
also accusing the Fine Gael/Labour coalition of trying
to cover up the story.
John Mooney: This whole matter goes back to a
collusion investigation, a Garda Ombudsman
Commission investigation going back a number of
years, I was actually involved in it. Actually, I suppose
to quote Enda Kenny, when he was in Opposition,
saying this was the Kieran Boylan affair where he
was demanding that the Government of the day
provide explanations: I want to give the
Governmentto give a full explanation of these cases,
I will be tabling questions on the nature of the inquiry
into both Boylan and why he isnt before the courts
when he was caught with large amounts of drugs,
heroin and cocaine. This was a drug trafficker who
was working with a group of guards in the Dublin
area, who served their way to promotion on the
basis of turning a blind eye to these activities, in
return for setting up people, including very young
men in the Dublin area for arrests, and GSOC were in
the middle of a very, very sensitive investigation into
that which revealed all sorts of wrongdoing and all
sorts of what could only be described as corruption
within the intelligence services. And this particular
escapade or whats been happening, to the
Commission, followed on, as they were drawing to a
close, their big, public interest inquiry into this. And
there were various people within the State apparatus
who were desperately needed to know what they
knew. And if youre asking me, and its a very well-
informed opinion, this is what this is all about. To be
perfectly frank, Im astonished at whats going on in
Government level.
I remember Pat Rabbitte, when he was a justice
spokesman in Opposition, screaming from the
rooftops about Kieran Boylan getting given a haulage
licence on the basis of false documentation and
information to the Department of Transport. I
remember when this individual, whom I should say
whose associates were issuing threats against
myself and others, was being brought up and
being charged, and then the charges would be
dropped secretly and then recharged again and
again charges dropped secretly in discreet
manners, to try and get this man off because he
has so much dirt on the guards.There was a lot of,
there was a lot of people at risk over what had
happened, because this all totally contravened the
new rules that were brought in, following the Morris
Tribunal. And I am actually astounded at whats
happening in Government at this level. Brendan
Howlin himself, I was a witness in the Morris Tribunal,
Ive done a lot of work in security issues in the last 15
years, Brendan Howlin was one of, I remember he
played a very noble role in exposing what happened
there. And the silence of the Labour party in this
matter is absolutely deafening. How anyone, at all,
could suggest and you know, Im just, Im just
speechless at these kind of defences that well
nothing can be proven. Simon OBrien was very
categoric tonight [last night] right.
And I know modern surveillance, because I deal with
this stuff for a living, it doesnt leave traces, you cant
prove that someone has done something because its
so high tech. We published a report last week, which
has proved to be pretty accurate, despite Alan Shatter
and Enda Kennys attempts to [inaudible] to cover this
up
Audrey Carville: And your implications, John, about
who was behind it, is pretty clear as well.
Mooney: Im not saying who is behind it because I
think theres two issues here: you have to differentiate
between the guards as an organisation and elements
within the State security forces that are doing their
own thing and theyve the know-how and the knack to
do this stuff, on the QT and abuse State systems. I
can hazard a guess, at this, because Im pretty
familiar with the types of people that may be
suspected of involvement in this and what might be
motivating them. But, at the end of the day, this has
developed into something else now. We had the
Justice Minister stood up in the Dil yesterday and
poured cold water on the most serious allegations
to come out, concerning spying an espionage,
illegal, I should say.
Carville: But he was doing it on the basis, it seemed,
of GSOCs own statement from the day before?
Mooney: Im not so sure that Alan Shatter is being so
forthcoming, again baseless innuendo, given the
security report has stated and what he published in
the Sunday Times. Its quite clear this isnt baseless
innuendo, they were running state-of-the-art
countersurveillance tests on their internal
communications and external communication system
and anyone who knows anything about a black
operation, which this is, thats a spying operation
thats run off the books and is deniable, that the first
thing you do when you organise these, you give
yourself and exit strategy. And if youre asking me, my
worthless opinion, the bits and pieces that they found
during these screening tests were the loose ends that
those involved in this forgot to tie up and have left a
signature which showed that something was going on.
But, again, I think you have to go back to this. Youve
a number of issues here: youve the comments and
the statements that Alan Shatter gave the Dil
yesterday [Tuesday], you have the unprecedented
situation where Enda Kenny, the Taoiseach of this
State, went off and gave comments that were
completely inaccurate about the legislative
requirements of the Garda Ombudsman and you have
the bizarre situation, like it, its just feeding into this
problem about the administration of justice, whereby
Alan Shatter, for example. There was information read
into the Dil record about the Confidential Recipient [a
transcript of a conversation between Garda
whistleblower Maurice McCabe and the Confidential
Recipient Oliver Connolly in which Mr Connolly
warned Sgt McCabe that Alan Shatter will go after
you], we were trying to seek, to find out, has the
Justice Department done anything about this?
These are the most incredible allegations being made
and I dont think there has beenI was asking tonight,
there was something that Im very deeply interested in
as it seems now Im the subject of some sort of
investigation
did Alan Shatter sign a warrant for surveillance on
the Garda Ombudsman? I still cant get an answer
on that. So I think this is gravely important, I think
theres been a really serious attempt by the State
to cover this up over the last couple of days and
its blown up in their faces.
Jobstown protesters launch public campaign ahead
of trials
20/02/2017
Former MEP Patricia McKenna joined with trade unionists and
defendants in the upcoming Jobstown 'false imprisonment'
trials to launch a public campaign in the run up to the April
trials.
In October a 17-year-old boy was found guilty of falsely
imprisoning Joan Burton and her adviser in November 2014.

He was aged 15 when he blocked them from leaving a

graduation ceremony in Jobstown in Dublin - by standing in
front of two Garda vehicles.
Anti-Austerity Alliance TD Paul Murphy and six others are set
to stand trial on April 24, with further trials to follow in June
and April 2018.
In a statement at today's launch at Buswell's hotel, the group
said: The spontaneous protest against the then Tanaiste
Joan Burton in Jobstown on 15 November 2014 was seized
upon by establishment politicians and the Gardai to try to
strike back against the anti-water charges movement.
Today we are launching a campaign of public information. It
will challenge the false narrative that has been put forward
about Jobstown and the protest, where many in the political
world and in the media have found us guilty before the trial
even begins.
Convictions are being pursued because the establishment
resented that a new mass movement had cut across their
attempts to impose water charges. It is an attempt to send a
chilling message to all those who would wish to protest in
future.
The group plan to hold a public rally on April 1 at Liberty Hall,
where Paddy Hill of the Birmingham Six will speak.
"As someone who is an expert in what being falsely
imprisoned is I can say this was not false imprisonment, Mr
Hill said. This was a community exerting its democratic right
to oppose an unjust policy. A right that we should all be proud
to defend."
DPP issues no
prosecution direction
in Bon Secours rape
claim
By radiokerrynews -
23rd January 2017

The Director of Public Prosecutions has issued a

direction of no prosecution in the case of an alleged
rape of a woman by a health worker in the Bon
Secours Hospital in Tralee.
The assault was alleged to have happened on
September 10th last after the woman had a MRI scan.
The health worker was not employed directly by the
Bon Secours but worked with a service provider.
He has since left Ireland.
He did not keep an appointment to call to Tralee Garda
Station and his whereabouts are unknown.
The man admitted to Garda to having sex with the
woman, but claimed it was consensual.
He resigned from his job which he had held since 2009
but did not keep an appointment with Garda some days
later.
The woman said she had given the health worker a 10
tip after having a scan and was changing into her clothes
when the alleged attack happened.
Garda punched suspect who
later died, inquest told
Wed, Sep 8, 2010, 01:00
GEORGINA O'HALLORAN
A MAN arrested with Dwayne Foster, who was being
held for questioning about the fatal shooting of a young
woman when he was found unresponsive in a Garda
station, has told an inquest that he saw Foster being
punched at the time of his arrest.
Foster (24), Woodbank Avenue, Finglas, Dublin, was
discovered unresponsive in Coolock Garda station on
March 7th, 2006. He was taken to Beaumont Hospital
where he was pronounced dead.
He was being questioned in relation to the shooting of
Donna Cleary (22), who was shot dead at a party early on
March 5th, 2006.
A postmortem by Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael
Curtis found he died from methadone intoxication and
noted that 34 injuries on Fosters body were caused by
blunt force trauma.
Solicitor for the Foster family Michael Finucane has
accepted that not all of the injuries were caused during
the arrest.
Wayne Hart, who was arrested with Foster and Jeffrey
Finnegan on March 5th at a house in the Curragh, Co
Kildare, said garda entered the room where they were
sitting and pushed them to the ground and put
pillowcases, or something like pillowcases, over their
heads.
They were handcuffed, he added.
They came in and pushed us to the ground, said Mr
Hart, who was giving evidence at a resumed inquest into
the death of Mr Foster.
He told Dublin City Coroners Court that he saw Foster
being punched once at the back of his neck around his
ear after he (Mr Hart) moved the cover over his head.
Mr Hart told the court he himself was kicked in the face
because he moved and that his lip was busted and
bleeding, but it was not a full force kick.
Asked by Stephen Byrne, for the Garda, how he was able
to move the cover over his head given his hands were
behind his back and handcuffed, Mr Hart said he shook
his head and it came off a little bit. It was then replaced.

The pillowcases were removed as they were being led

from the house, said Mr Hart, who was taken to Coolock
Garda station and placed in a cell opposite Foster. Mr
Hart was moved to another Garda station the next day.
According to garda who were involved in the arrests,
nothing was placed over the heads of the detainees.
The inquest heard that Det Sgt Cormac Brennan, who
was involved in the investigation into Ms Clearys death,
had a warrant to search the house in relation to a
firearm.After entering the room, Det Sgt Brennan went
to Foster and Det Garda Brian Hanley went to Det Sgt
Brennans assistance as Foster was resisting and
continued to struggle, said Det Garda Hanly.
The garda pushed Foster to his knees.
The two were assisted by Det Garda Joseph Enright, who
pulled Fosters legs out and got him down on the ground.
He was twisting and turning trying to break free, said
Det Garda Enright.
Foster was then handcuffed.
Det Garda Hanley told the inquest that at no stage did he
mistreat Foster nor did he see any members of the Garda
mistreat him.
All the force used was reasonable and necessary, he
said.
Giving evidence on Monday, Det Sgt Brennan said Mr
Foster resisted arrest and said the force used by garda
was proportionate to overcome the resistance offered by
Foster.
The inquest continues today.
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/garda%
C3%AD-punched-suspect-who-later-died-
inquest-told-1.647947

17 February 2017
A few days ago a couple of us got together and came up with an idea and we
contacted activists around the country to see would they join us as we make
a stand against Corruption within the Gardai and stand with those who try to
expose it. I have seen a few people comment I'm not supporting the guards.
Well this isn't about supporting the guards it's actually the opposite. We all
know what is wrong with the police force in this country , many activists have
seen it first hand as they have stood up and spoke out and were viciously
attacked or harassed to shut them up. People like Morris McCabe stepped
up to the plate and did what they believed was their job and tried to put an
end to it. Only thing is his colleagues and superiors didn't want him to do his
job and they treated him disgracefully. Think about it many individuals ie
Judges , Politicians , Journalists , Bankers and senior civil servants had
penalty points and fines quashed or wiped from the system. Did the guards
involved do this out of the goodness of their heart or was it a kind of
Bribe?I've looked after you now you look after us. Think about it , a judge
owes you a favour and say a pain in the arse activist appears before that
judge , a nudge and a wink and fuck the evidence he's convicted and jailed.
Or what about the journalist ? You want to discredit a movement, and activist
etc and a journalist owes you a favour . How many false , misleading and
down right shocking stories have the media made about water activists over
the last few years ? For fuck sake at one stage the Indo nearly convinced me
I was Charles Mansons love child the way I was portrayed or what about the
residents of Jobstown ? If you had followed the media in this country you
would nearly believe that they were personally trained by Osama Bin Laden
and not only had they kidnapped Joan Burton but that they had beheaded
the witch.
There are many unanswered questions as regards what has gone on within
the force as people like Clare Daly and Mick Wallace and Ming Flanagan
unearth the seedy underbelly that operated with impunity for so long.
Men and women interned without trial on the word of a guard. Gardai
working with Drug dealers and protecting cartels in distributing and selling
drugs. Only the other day a self proclaimed informant eventually jailed for
shooting someone. Was he operating with out fear of arrest because he was
protected by his Garda handlers ?
There needs to be a top down clean up within the guards because it stinks.
The law is the law and as people like Maurice McCabe tried to show us. We
are all accountable to the laws of this country. There should be no one above
the laws of the land.
As we have seen in the last number of years that is not how it has been
working. People who have blatantly bought their way in high society ( Denis
O'Brien ) have been ignored while Mary who couldn't afford a TV license was
thrown into a cell.
So I ask you all to come out and stand against this corruption that has seen a
minority in this country operate at the expense of the majority.
We have to start somewhere and where better than the gardai.
There are individuals out there who believe they are above the law on
account of size of their bank Balance and which Politicians they have on
speed dial. Time for the gardai to show the country Corruption is not
tolerated no matter where it manifests itself and those involved will be
investigated and convicted and jailed like anyone else.
Tomorrow night 6pm Garda stations nationwide.
Can we trust the State - Irish Daily Mail Feb 14 2017
http://www.integrityireland.ie/Can%20we
%20trust%20the%20State%20-
%20Irish%20Daily%20Mail%20Feb%2014
%202017.pdf
Protecting Individuals against the Abuse of State Power

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Protecting Individuals against the Abuse of State
Power
We support groups that defend civil liberties in European countries.
We work with these groups, but also in collaboration with
reformers within public administration, law enforcement, and
politics, on initiatives that address areas where the quest for
security impinges negatively upon human rights. The main aim is
to monitor and counter excesses and bad practice in issues such
as surveillance, stop and search, profiling, and counterterrorism.
We also fund groups working to protect whistleblowers and
citizens who expose human rights violations and other abuses of
power by governmental agencies.
https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/a
bout/programs/open-society-initiative-
europe


Our Dail elected have sunk to a new low.
.
It seems incredible but yes, yet again our Dail elected of Endapendents
and Fianna Fail are reaching toward a new low in Irish history. Each of
their individual names will be forever remembered in Ireland's modern
history for the part they are about to play._._All are about to vote, to prop
up a sicking Fine Gael government. All are about to incredible prop up
yet again, a storytelling, lying country leader who has been caught out
lying on a complete national scale. The latter comes as no surprise to the
wise as he has been previously been lying on an international level too -
such as to the Greek leaders and Ireland's tax affairs while in austerity.
This is in between such fairy tales like "man with two pints", "soldiers at
bank machines" and "needles falling out of bags" - all stories he's
invented. _._By Fianna Fail very own words, they admit the government day
to day operation of running the state has been at best shambolic and a
disaster - at worst, we, the people, its citizens are being lead in a
disgusting costly dance while fools run the state and continue
lying._._Despite all this, Fianna Fail and Endapendents are absolutely
stupidly and incredibility going to vote within the Dail, to save the
backside of a man that is nothing less than a complete and utter unfunny
joke. They are going to save once again his back-stabbing, financial
robbing, resource giving away, people personal data stealing, bullying
thug government._._As each will soon vote to incredible save both the man
and this bloody disgraceful national party - one only wanted by 25% of
the 65% that voted in the last election - each and every one of them will
have earned themselves a place in the horror annals of our nations
history. _._They vote to prop up Fine Gael and Co because they are
thinking also of themselves first - the PR excuse: "...no appetite to pull
out of government". They are each seriously financial strained so in
order to recuperate money, they are willing to let the nation further
suffer and be dictated to yet again by an exposed lying bunch of bullying
thugs in government. _._Hang your heads with shame Fianna Fail. Hang
your heads with shame Endapendents. Those of you about to play a
further disgusting part in the propping up of Fine Gael. WILL be
remembered and we, the people of Ireland that you should be putting
first above your own interests, WILL NOT FORGET your actions.
The best small country in
the world in which to be a
white-collar criminal? 1

Garda Commissioner Noirin OSullivan, left, and Justice Minister

Frances Fitzgerald, launch the Second National Strategy on
Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence 2016-2021 earleir
this month. Photo: Caroline Quinn
Following the publication of the Banking
Inquiry report, politicians have assured the
electorate that new laws and tighter
regulations mean the mistakes of the past
will never be repeated. However, there is
little evidence to support this optimistic
appraisal.
Promises to tackle white-collar crime were first made in
1998. In a review of company law compliance and
enforcement, Michael McDowell found that most of the
offences contained in the Companies Acts had "never been
the subject of prosecutions" and that Ireland was
"characterised by a culture of non-compliance".
"Those who are tempted to make serious breaches of
company law have little reason to fear detection or
prosecution. As far as enforcement is concerned, the
sound of the enforcers' footsteps on the beat is simply
never heard," he said. That report ultimately led to the
setting up of the Office of the Director of Corporate
Enforcement (ODCE) in 2001, with one headline at the
time screaming, 'Corporate Enforcer to get Tough on
Crime'.
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/col
ette-browne/the-best-small-country-in-the-world-in-
which-to-be-a-whitecollar-criminal-34415549.html
Are you watching Fine Gael, Tony Mc Loughlin, John Perry,
Imelda Henry, Richard Bruton and last but not least our leader
Enda Kenny.

In case you Fine Gael have a difficulty reading, it says:- THE

BEST SMALL COUNTRY IN THE WORLD IN WHICH TO BE A
WHITE COLLAR CRIMINAL - So much for Enda's new politics -
new culture. Shame on you and Shame on you again. You will
be hearing a lot more on this from me in the coming days.

Anyone wishing to help out in the campaign to expose the

rotten underbelly of Fine Gael by way of advertising trailers,
8x4 posters and printing,
Shocking new failures by Tusla are revealed
in an internal review of the Child and Family
Agency's handling of false child sex abuse
allegations against Garda whistleblower
Maurice McCabe
February 12 2017

Shocking new failures by Tusla are revealed

in an internal review of the Child and Family
Agency's handling of false child sex abuse
allegations against Garda whistleblower
Maurice McCabe, the Sunday Independent
has learned.
An internal audit, which has been seen by this newspaper,
found that the agency failed to contact or establish the
credibility of the alleged victim before launching a child
sex abuse investigation into Sgt McCabe.
"It is also not clear as to why a decision to proceed with
the allegation was made without the cooperation and
corroboration of the alleged victim and without having
formed some opinion with regard the credibility of the
allegation that was referred," the report states.
It also reveals that there is "no evidence on file" that the
sex abuse allegations were communicated to the HSE by
an Garda Siochana when the claims were first made in
2006. The report specifically notes that Sgt McCabe was
"not afforded fair procedures" with regard to the
allegations made against him. Tusla has since apologised
to Sgt McCabe and his family.
Meanwhile, Fianna Fail TD John McGuinness has stated
for the first time that former Garda Commissioner Martin
Callinan detailed false child abuse allegations about the
Garda whistleblower when they secretly met in a car park
in January 2014.
Asked if the new allegations match what was said to him
by Callinan, McGuinness said: "They do." However, he
refused to give further details due to the forthcoming
commission of investigation.
Last night, Martin Callinan insisted he would not be
"engaging" publicly on the issue.
"I am in receipt of your correspondence, hand delivered to
my home this afternoon and which I received at 3.30pm, a
copy of which is attached. I have been advised that it
would be entirely inappropriate for me to engage publicly
with any matter which is the subject of commission of
investigation," he said
"In not so engaging I must point out that it is not to be
taken as agreement with the content of any matters raised
in your correspondence," he added.
It is also understood Mr McGuinness will make explosive
new claims about the alleged smear campaign during the
commission of investigation.
Last night Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tanaiste Frances
Fitzgerald refused to say when they first heard the child
abuse rumours about Sgt McCabe which were widespread
in political circles for the past two years. The Taoiseach
and Tanaiste released almost identical statements when
asked when they heard about the allegations, which will be
the focus of Mr Justice Peter Charleton's commission of
investigation which was established last week. Spokesmen
for both said they deal with "facts not rumours".
The Independent Alliance is understood to be seriously
concerned about the controversy and has decided not to
comment until it receives a full briefing at Cabinet.
The Government is now expected to face a motion of no
confidence next week, tabled by Sinn Fein.
The audit prepared by Tusla's Sexual Assault Review Team
was initiated after it emerged a senior social worker wrote
to Sgt McCabe in December 2015 telling him he was to be
the subject of a child abuse investigation.
It has since emerged that the investigation was based on
inaccurate information which was supposed to have been
removed from Tulsa's database months before the
investigation was established.
The review also reveals that the HSE was never contacted
by gardai when a previous allegation was made against
him by the daughter of a colleague in 2006. Gardai
investigated this allegation but the Director of Public
Prosecutions ruled there was no evidence of any crime.
"There is no evidence on file that this information was
communicated to the HSE social work department at the
time by An Garda Siochana. Withstanding that, the HSE
would continue to have a statutory duty under Children
First policy to investigate all allegations of child abuse
referred to its department," the Tusla audit stated.
The same woman told a HSE counsellor in 2013 of the
same accusations she made in 2006. However, a file
compiled by the counsellor after the meeting incorrectly
suggested Sgt McCabe had "digitally penetrated" the
woman as a child.
The Sunday Independent understands the counsellor only
realised she had accused Sgt McCabe of false sexual abuse
claims after gardai contacted the alleged victim. The
woman in question told gardai she had not told the
counsellor she was "digitally penetrated" by Sgt McCabe as
was alleged in the file.
Yesterday, the HSE said the National Counselling Service
"responded immediately" in May 2014 and brought the
error to the attention of Tusla and An Garda Siochana.
"An immediate internal review of guidelines, practices and
protocols was undertaken within the National Counselling
Service to ensure that such an error would not recur," it
said.
"Appropriate training was also undertaken. Additional
supervisory procedures were put in place by the National
Counselling Service in relation to the staff member
concerned."
The Tusla audit noted there was "no evidence" to suggest
the alleged victim met a social worker after she met the
counsellor in 2013 or after the file was changed the
following year. The review said it was "not clear" why the
senior Tusla official looked at the original file rather than
the correct version amended in 2014.
The Tusla audit team offered to meet the alleged victim to
discus her allegations as part of the review. However, the
women failed to attend a scheduled appointment and later
called the agency and said she did not want to pursue the
matter further, according to the Tusla audit.
Government must
postpone public tribunal
until after new law to
slash legal fees

Colette Browne
February 16 2017
Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald said in 2015 that the Tribunals
Bill was awaiting report stage. Photo: Steve Humphreys
In rushing headlong into setting up a
tribunal of inquiry into the Maurice McCabe
scandal using outdated legislation, the
Government is acting in its own interest and
not the public interest.
For the past decade, Sgt Maurice McCabe and his family
have suffered, in his own words, "great suffering, private
nightmare, public defamation and State vilification".
With allegations that a smear campaign reached all the
way to the top echelons of An Garda Sochna, and may
also have involved child protection agency Tusla, a
tribunal is essential in order to restore public trust in these
important State institutions.
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/colette-
browne/government-must-postpone-public-tribunal-
until-after-new-law-to-slash-legal-fees-35455695.html

Mishandling of the
whistleblower row shows
Coalition no longer fit for
office
Colette Browne
February 14 2017
Fine Gael and Fianna Fil may yet agree
some formula of words to save the
Government and prevent an election, but
the utterly shambolic handling of the
Maurice McCabe controversy suggests it's
time for this administration to slink from
office.
Yesterday, both Fine Gael and Fianna Fil were in damage
limitation mode after divergent accounts of a meeting
between Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald and Fianna
Fil justice spokesman Jim O'Callaghan came to light.
Mr O'Callaghan was "100pc certain" that, at a meeting
with the minister on Wednesday night, he warned her on
"three or four" occasions that a Tusla file, alleging criminal
conduct against Sgt McCabe, was going to be revealed in a
'Prime Time' expos the following night.
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/colette-
browne/mishandling-of-the-whistleblower-row-shows-
coalition-no-longer-fit-for-office-35449538.html

Ross's ragtag mob hijack

McCabe scandal for their
own tawdry ends
Colette Browne
February 21 2017
Transport minister Shane Ross. Photo: PA
The omnishambles that has engulfed Fine
Gael for the past two weeks has saved the
Independent Alliance from some much-
needed scrutiny of its members' pathetic
grandstanding.
They bill themselves as a plucky band of maverick
firebrands, eager to restore accountability and
transparency to government, but in reality the
Independent Alliance hides its parish pump proclivities
beneath a veneer of preening self-regard.
Last week, this mask slipped. It will be hard to restore it.
Never ones to look a gift horse in the mouth, the
Independent Alliance TDs saw in the Sgt Maurice McCabe
scandal an opportunity for cheap self-promotion.
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/colette-
browne/rosss-ragtag-mob-hijack-mccabe-scandal-for-
their-own-tawdry-ends-35467657.html

In 2014 GSOC ran a counter
surveillance operation to see who
was spying on them. Much media
blame 'unknown hackers', most like
it was cops.






Garda inquiry into

undercover
English cop
'whitewash'

Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan who was tasked last year

with a second internal inquiry into the activities of an undercover
English police officer: Niall Carson/PA Wire.
ACTIVISTS who allege a British undercover police
officer operated in Ireland have branded a Garda
inquiry into his activity a whitewash.
Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan was tasked
late last year with a second internal probe into the
activities of a spy from London's Metropolitan Police
after an original inquiry in 2011 found no evidence of
criminality.
Campaigners wrote to Justice Minister Frances
Fitzgerald demanding she seek Ireland's inclusion in a
public inquiry in England and Wales over undercover
policing.
Activist Kim Bryan, who claims she was targeted by
Met spy Mark Kennedy in England and in Ireland,
criticised the minister's response.
"I am bitterly disappointed by the closed process
Frances Fitzgerald has established, with an internal
garda report into undercover policing," she said.
"It makes a mockery of the justice process if this
review examining undercover policing in Ireland does
not take into account the evidence of those that were
spied on, and as such I would seriously question its
legitimacy."
The Shell to Sea campaign, which opposes the Shell
Corrib gas project in Mayo, and Shannonwatch, which
opposes the use of Irish airports by US military also
claim to have come in contact with Mr Kennedy.
Ed Horgan, Shannonwatch spokesman and a United
Nations elections' inspector, said: "We would be very
supportive of a proper investigation into this guy's
actions. Who paid? Why? Were the gardai using such
an agent provocateur?"
Mr Kennedy is believed to have been in Ireland
between 2004 and 2006.
Anti-globalisation campaigner Jason Kirkpatrick, who
says he was a victim of abuses by the Met's
undercover unit, is taking a High Court challenge in
Belfast this week to force the public inquiry in
England and Wales to be extended to Northern
Ireland.
The inquiry was announced by then home secretary
Theresa May in March 2015 under the leadership of
Sir Christopher Pitchford, following revelations about
the activities of Mr Kennedy, who admitted having
''intimate relationships with a number of people
while undercover''.
Mr Kirkpatrick and Ms Bryan are among 200 core
participants in the Pitchford inquiry.
Forty-two cases have been found where dead
children's names were used to provide cover
identities for officers by the inquiry and there have
been calls to extend the Pitchford inquiry to cover
actions of officers in Germany and Scotland.
In a reply to a series of parliamentary questions on
the issue of British undercover police in Ireland, Ms
Fitzgerald has repeatedly said that see would "fully
consider" any findings that relate to Ireland.
The Department of Justice defended its request for a
second internal inquiry on the issue.
"The Garda authorities are in ongoing contact with
their counterparts in the London Metropolitan Police
Service in the context of co-operation across a full
range of policing issues," a spokesman said.
"It should be noted that there is no question of a
police officer from outside the jurisdiction exercising
police powers here in Ireland. Any such person is
subject fully to our laws and any evidence of breach of
our criminal law would be fully pursued."
US citizen Sarah Hampton said she has received an
apology from the Met after having a year-long
relationship with Mr Kennedy while in Ireland in
2005.
She said she knew him as Mark Stone and that she
suffered deep depression after discovering the truth.
"No-one should ever be under any circumstance
coerced, invaded, violated and deceived by an
undercover police officer through sexual
relationships," she said.
"Despite the apology I have many unanswered
questions. I have not received the files the police have
on me. I want to know to what extent my private life
has been invaded by the UK police force and what
justification is there for it."
http://www.irishnews.com/news/northerni
relandnews/2017/02/07/news/garda-
inquiry-into-undercover-english-cop-
whitewash--922273/?param=ds441rif44T
If you are looking to get involved in Strike 4 Repeal in your
community, below are contacts to regional organisers. Not on
the list? Contact us and we will help you set one up!

*Co. Mayo and NUIG group details to follow*

REGIONAL

Cork Strike4Repeal
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1535452239816762/?qsef
r=1

Limerick Strike4Repeal
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1209611875783219/
Belfast Strike4Choice
Repeal the 8th Sligo - Abortion Rights Campaign ARC
Galway Pro-Choice
Meath For Choice

INTERNATIONAL

All international: Repeal Global

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1060283154085871/

Berlin-Ireland Pro Choice Solidarity

Repeal NYC

SCHOOLS

All colleges - Students Strike4Repeal

https://www.facebook.com/groups/740737906083910/

All secondary schools - Strike 4 Repeal (Students)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1308327339236830/

Trinity College Strike 4 Repeal

https://www.facebook.com/tcdstrike4repeal/?fref=ts

Maynooth Strike4Repeal
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1135879849871782/?ref=b
r_rs

DCU Strike4Repeal
https://www.facebook.com/groups/725308134291462/

NCAD Feminist Society

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ncadfeministsociety/

Guide for creative work around
undercover policing
We encourage anyone wanting to create fictionalised
accounts or art about these events and issues

to fully consider ethics as part of their creative process and

their publicity. This brief guide will help you to get it right.
Tone
Are you attempting to genuinely open up discussion, to
educate, illuminate and empower? Or will your
production merely entertain, sensationalise and exploit?
Remember these are ongoing real-life events which are
still being unpacked, as the police have given the people
affected no disclosure what so ever about what happened.
In real life, the police officers become actors, abuse the
public they claim to serve, and refuse to divulge who wrote
their lines. This isnt a drama, its real life (and were all
immersed in it no ticket required).
Consult the affected where possible
As part of your research, make contact (first hand if
possible) with the people and groups affected by police
political spying, particularly those depicted in your piece.
First-hand contact with any of the many groups affected
takes time, and indeed may not be successful. Those
affected are not only attempting to rebuild their lives but
are also mired in uphill battles to bring the police to
account. What happened to them still generates
enormous demands on their lives. It may not be possible
for them to play an advisory role to those wishing to make
depictions about traumatic events.
What to include
Give voice to those affected by using their own words
and stories
Emphasise where the police have admitted wrongdoing
With performances or showings, include a companion
ethics debate accessible to all
Enable participants to find out more about the ongoing
campaign to make the police come clean as well as us,
you could link to Campaign to Oppose Police Surveillance,
Undercover Research Group, Newham Monitoring Group,
and Netpol.
Reading material
Our Stories personal accounts by women affected by
relationships with undercover officers
Undercover by Paul Lewis and Rob Evans
Secret Manoeuvers in the Dark by Eveline Lubbers
Blacklisted by Dave Smith & Phil Chamberlain
Nationwide Demonstrations
Planned At Police Stations
Across Ireland.
FEBRUARY 15, 2017 / SOUNDMIGRATION
Nationwide Demonstrations Planned At Police
Stations Across Ireland.
A national mobilisation against police corruption is
underway as part of the public response to recent
uncovering of systemic abuses within An Garda
Siochana, the Irish police force.

People have responded to an initial call to show

solidarity with Maurice McCabe and his family by
organising vigils and protests at police stations
across the country, all timed to coincide at 6pm on
Saturday 18th February.
Protests have been called so far at the following
police stations
Tallaght, Dublin
Trim, County Meath
Mill Street, County Galway
Coolock, County Dublin
Anglesea Street, Cork
Carlow town, County Carlow
Rathmines, Dublin
Ennis Road, Kilrush, County Galway
Clontarf, County Dublin
Dominic Street, Kilkenny
Castlebar, County Mayo
Kevin Street, Dublin
Finglas, Dublin
Roscommon, Country Roscommon
Letterkenny, County Donegal
Cobh, County Cork
Monaghan, County Monaghan
What is striking is that this is decentralised call,
outside any traditional political party. Looking at the
events organised, they range from holding candle
vigils in direct support of Maurice McCabe and
family, to call for the protection of whistle-blowers
and more explicitly political calls to end political
policing around political dissent in communities.
The national mobilisations across the country in
recent years, specifically around community
resistance to water meter installation has lead to an
increase public understanding of what political
policing can and does look like.
Facebook groups have been popping up over the
last few hours so the list above will quickly be out of
date.
On one of the coordinating pages this map have
been pasted showing garda stations across the
country. Given how quickly this demonstrations of
public solidarity are popping, we are likely to see a
quite a significant turn out across the country on
Saturday.


Here's an interesting observation.
Enda Kenny's lie (or imagined
conversation!! ) implies he thought
#MauriceMcCabe was not to be
trusted
Where is the
#Spycops
statement
@CharlieFlanagan
?
FEBRUARY 14, 2017 / SOUNDMIGRATION
The security forces here would be very
concerned about agents from an another
country operating in this jurisdiction. I
can confirm to the Deputy that the
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade
will meet with the Secretary of State,
James Brokenshire, here in Dublin next
week to discuss this matter. I do not
have any further details I can put before
the House now. The Minister will make a
statement following his meeting.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny, 8th Feb 2017
I find it shocking that via my solicitor
Darragh Mackin of KRW Law I have
informed the Minister of Justice about
such issues via legal letters dated 17
May 2016 and again on 20 December
2016,4 yet to date I have received no
reply although both letters were even
reported in the media.
Sarah Hampton in email to Enda Kenny, Charlie
Flanagan and Frances Fitzgerald 12th Feb 2017
Support independent research and journalism by
using the share button below, thanks.

Its been a fairly rough fortnight for the individuals in

government, the leaders dealing with the fallout of
what happens when the nature of policing as it
exists in the state today becomes ongoing public
conversation.
Nowhere near as rough as its has been over the
years to those seeking simply to make public what
the institution of An Garda Siochana get up to. Lost
somewhat in the mix is the momentum building for
the Irish state to open up about the role of secret
British undercover policing units working in Ireland.
There are of course distinctions to be made
between vindictive, inter-agency retaliations against
police whistle-blowers from within the force -such as
we now know was meted out to Maurice McCabe
and David Taylor and others yet to come to light
and the specific vindictive secret political policing
waged against people involved in political,
environmental and social justice struggles.
What they have in common is though it the deep
desire of institutional power centres such as police
forces to keep secret what it is they are doing. At all
costs police forces want to stay outside and beyond
transparency and specifically beyond anything even
resembling democratic control.
Precisely because they know that when all is out in
the open, public revulsion turns to demand for
institutional change. The first instinct of any power
center is to defend its own power merely to retain it.
In police forces, this becomes coded in cultures of
omerta. Loyalty to the organisation comes first, and
all who show disloyality shall be treated
accordingly.
So if this is what happens to those whistle-blowers
inside police forces, how much more difficult is it for
those outside police forces, trying to both raise
public consciousness and achieve personal and
collective justice around police abuses?

Sarah Hampton (far left) with British undercover Mark Kennedy in

Ireland 2005
And this brings us to the start of last week where a
press conference was held around questions arising
from British undercover officers working in Ireland.
A report from that press conference is here. There
is a tactic acceptance by previous and current
governments that British officers did indeed work in
Ireland.
Several TDs including Clare Daly, Jonathan
OBrien and Paul Murphy as well as MEP Lynn
Boylan have raised questions to the present
government and at the European Parliament.
It was in response to questions by Paul Murphy on
Wednesday March 8th that Enda Kenny stated the
quote at the top of this piece.
However the press statement sent out by Mininster
from Foreign Affairs and Trade Charlies Flanaghan
following his meeting with the Secretary of State for
Northern Ireland, James Brokenshire, made no
reference to raising the issue of British undercovers
working in Ireland.
Earlier this week an email was sent to Enda Kenny,
Charlie Flanagan and Justice Minister Frances
Fitzgerald by one of the women deceived into a
long term relationship with Mark Kennedy. As with
all correspondence sent directly to members of the
government, there has been no reply.
Kennedy was British officer with the secret National
Public Order Intelligence unit. Sarah Hampton first
met Kennedy whilst on holiday in Ireland. Kennedy
at the time was using the persona Mark Stone,
pretending to be an environmental activist. Sarah
has already received a written apology from the
Metropolitan police who ran the secret police unit.
However, she, like hundreds of other caught up in
British secret policing operating it seamlessly
across national borders, she has many unanswered
questions. Saying sorry is easy if all the other
actions you come up against are deliberate
obstacles, or as is the case in from the Irish
government, simply ignoring your correspondence.
Here is that email to Kenny, Flanaghan and
Fitzgerald in full.
Dear Taoiseach Enda Kenny,
Dear Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade,
Charles Flanagan TD
Dear Tnaiste and Minister for Justice and
Equality, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald TD
My name is Sarah Hampton, you may have first
heard my name when I was quoted on
theParliament floor by TD Paul Murphy on 8
February 2017.
In 2005 I was on holiday on Ireland when I met
Mark Kennedy. I subsequently went onto have a
one year relationship with the man I then knew
as Mark Stone without any idea of his true
identity. In 2010 I found out that he was a British
undercover police officer working in Ireland as
a member National Public Order Intelligence
Unit.
Finding out that Mark was an undercover police
officer brought about a deep depression that
seemed impossible to navigate, there were
times I have almost given up completely. The
process of seeking justice on this case has felt
at times belittling, intimidating and downright
scary. I felt I had been raped, I never consented
to sleeping with a police officer.
On the 3rd February 2017 I received a written
full apology from the Metropolitan Police
Service (MPS).3 Assistant Commissioner Fiona
Taylor wrote me to acknowledged the pain and
stress I have endured as the result of the
deceitful relationship. The MPS Assistant
Commissioner stated, The relationship
between you and Mark Kennedy was abusive,
deceitful, manipulative and wrong. The
relationship should never have happened. I
recognise that what happened in your case was
an abuse of police power that resulted in a
violation of your human rights, a breach of your
privacy and trust, and the source of significant
trauma to you.
I note the Parliamentary Answer that TD Clare
Daly received from the Tnaiste, 8th
February2017, stating should anything emerge
from the findings of the UKs Undercover
Policing Inquiry (UCPI) that would be relevant to
policing in this jurisdiction I will consider it fully
and take any action that may be required.
However at this point the UCPI excludes Ireland
completely, so this Parliamentary Answer is
illogical and does not satisfy my concerns in
the least. We dont need to wait for the findings
of the UK undercover policing inquiry to know
that there are significant grounds for taking
action on this matter. I am a US citizen, I was on
holiday in Ireland when our relationship began,
and despite the British MPS apology I have
received, I have many unanswered questions
regarding Ireland. I want to know if Irish
authorities knew what Mark Kennedy wasdoing,
and I want details about his operations in
Ireland.
Did you allow him to develop intimate
relationships with women in your jurisdiction?
Was he operating with the full permission of
the Irish authorities?
Do you have police files on me?
To what extent has my right to privacy been
invaded by the Irish authorities?
It is my belief that Police and government are
supposed to be here to serve the people and
they need to be held responsible when they
themselves have even admitted to being
negligent and violating human rights. I believe
that by not taking action on this matter you are
perpetuating the trauma I have experienced and
that my human rights are continuing to be
violated.
Further I find it shocking that via my solicitor
Darragh Mackin of KRW Law I have informed
the Minister of Justice about such issues via
legal letters dated 17 May 2016 and again on 20
December 2016,4 yet to date I have received no
reply although both letters were even reported
in the media.
On 8 February the Taoiseach stated in
Parliament that he would have his Minister for
Foreign Affairs and Trade, Charles Flanagan TD,
raise the issue with British officials within the
coming week. I firmly request that you take
action to insist to British officials that the UCPI
be extended to include the activities of
undercover activities in the Republic of Ireland.
Yours sincerely,
Sarah Hampton
Core Participant in the UK Undercover Policing
Inquiry
The demands are clear from Sarah and others
seeking truth and answers. The first one is very
simple.
The Irish government needs to officially ask that the
UK government extend Pitchford to include the role
of British undercover units working in Ireland. It
quite simple. If you dont ask you dont get.
The government of Northern Ireland, Scotland and
Germany have all asked for this extension. This
government needs to own up and say why it refuses
to do so so far. There is not question that British
undercover units were working here. That is already
established. Sarah Hampton other questions need
answering to. And to those we should add the
opening up of files of people living in Ireland
citizen and non citizen, adults and children,
arising from coming into contact with British
undercover police operating here and providing
information to An Garda Siochana.
Because this isnt going away.
Spycops Press
Conference
in Dublin.
FEBRUARY 6, 2017 / SOUNDMIGRATION
.entry-meta
.entry-header

British spy Mark Kennedy at the spire on O Connell Street, Dublin

with Kim Bryan and Sarah Hampton in 2005.
#Spycops: Irish Press Conference in full.
Earlier today three people targetted by members of
the UK National Public Order Intelligence Units
(NPOIU) in Ireland held a press conference. They
want to build pressure on the Irish government to
open up about the role of British spies in Ireland.
The three, Kate Wilson, Kim Bryan and Jason
Kirkpatrick travelled from Spain,
Wales and Germany. Kate is one of a number of
women who brought cases against the Metropolitan
police in London because of being decieved into
long term relationships with men who turned out to
be undercover officers.
Kim Bryan was involved in organising educational
workshops and mobilisations around the G8
meeting in Scotland in 2005, and spoke about how
an undercover officer with the NPOIU convince her
and other to travel to Ireland. The undercover cop
paid for the visit and provided the transport.
Jason Kirkpatrick was also targetted by the same
undercover cop in Ireland, Northern Ireland and in
Germany.
The demand of those present was that the UK
Pitchford Inquiry into the working of British
undercover political policing units be expanded to
Ireland since they operated here, with the first step
of this that Minister for Justice and Equality follow
the lead of other Justice Minister in Scotland,
Northern Ireland and Germany in making
representation to the UK Home Office to that effect.
At the core of this lies not simply the abuse of
human rights of political activists being deceived
into intimate personal relationship which perhaps
understandably much media focuses in on. The
continued stonewalling of the Irish government in
providing answers to those abused and affected
even after admitting that it knows full well about the
actions of British political spies working in Ireland,
further compound British police violations with Irish
police complicity.
The full audio of the press conference is below and
Id encourage people to listen to it all as the quotes
that follow are transcribe snippets.
Opening the press conference Kate said
I found out in 2010 that my partner was
an undercover officer and since then
information has just kept coming out
about the practices of undercover
policing in the UK. We now know that
since 1968 they have been running top
secret political policing units, starting
with the Metropolitan police in London
but also other forces around the
country. Activists have been finding
information about those officers. The
state hasnt actually yet given us any
information that has not be already
found out by reseachers and
whistleblowers getting that information
to the public.
We already know that a large number of
undercover officers were involved in the
kind of long term intimate relationship
that I had. Some of them even fathered
children. We know that they were spying
on the families of the victims of police
violence. People who had been killed by
the police or whose murders had not be
properly investigated.
And we know that they were working
with the Crown Prosecution Service and
were responsible for a number of
miscarriages of justice. Mark Kennedy
alone, who was the man that I was
involved with, is responsible for over 56
unsafe convictions. These were
convictions that were overturned
because of the role of undercover police
in those cases. People were wrongfully
convicted.
We are all here because our privacy and
political rights were violated by these
British police officers here in Ireland.
We think its really important that people
know these things happened in Ireland
and affected Irish citizens as well.
There is currently no information and no
investigation in Ireland. So we are here
to talk about some of the things that
happen here in Ireland. Yesterday the
Metropolitan police issued a public
apology to Sarah Hampton who is a
woman who was decieved into a
relationship with Mark Kennedy that
started here in Ireland.
A statement from a Sarah Hampton, currently in the
US, was then read out by Kim Bryan.
That statement in full is:
Love is one of the most sacred
things we have in our society and
I fell in love with Mark Stone. He
was supportive, attentive and
generous, he behaved like he
was in love with me. It tortures
me knowing he was paid to be
with me and because it was such
a loving relationship, it was
devastating to find out it was all
a lie. I have wondered so many
times if his superiors have kids;
what would they think if their
daughters were preyed upon like
this?
I have so much anger inside
about this crime against me and
it is only exacerbated by the fact
that a government institution
that is there to protect me is
responsible. How do you trust
men after this? How do you trust
a government? Finding out that
Mark was an undercover police
officer brought about a deep
depression that seemed
impossible to navigate, there
were times I almost gave up
completely. The process of
seeking justice on this case has
felt at times belittling,
intimidating and downright scary.
I didnt know how was I going to
stand up to the Metropolitan
Police Force. I felt I had been
raped. I never consented to
sleeping with a police officer.
I kept on fighting the case, using
my life as an example of what
should never happen to anyone.
No one should ever be under any
circumstance coerced, invaded,
violated and deceived by an
undercover police officer
through sexual relationships.
Despite the apology I have many
unanswered questions. I have not
received the files the police have
on me. I want to know to what
extent my private life has been
invaded by the UK police and
what justification is there for it?
Who gave permission for a British
undercover officer to form and
have a relationship with a US
national in Ireland, in the UK, in
Scotland and in Spain? The
police have now apologised to
me, saying that the relationship
between Mark Kennedy and I was
wrong, deceitful, manipulative
and abusive, that it should never
have happened. That it was an
abuse of police power and a
violation of my human rights It is
our responsibility now to make
sure that this never happens
again. We are continuing to fight
for the truth to be revealed in the
undercover policing inquiry, but
it is currently only looking at
events in England and Wales.
My experience shows that the
inquiry must be extended to
include in Scotland, Nortern
Ireland and the Republic of
Ireland, and other countries
where we know Mark Kennedy
and many other undercover
police officers were active. The
Police and government are
supposed to be here to serve the
people and they need to be held
responsible when negligent and
violating human rights.
Kim then spoke about her own interactions with
Kennedy.
I came to Dublin because Mark Kennedy
paid for me to come to Dublin. I came to
Dublin because he organised the
workshops that I gave. I probably
wouldnt have come if he hadnt
organised that travel.
I dont know what was going on but I
think it raises a very serious question
because Mark Kennedy was essentially
coercing, manipulating and
manufacturing situation which meant
Irish citizen then took part in things that
were being manufacture by a British spy
who was operating on Irish soil.
So we have very many question about
what Mark Kennedy was doing here in
Ireland, what his motivations were. And I
think unless we get this inquiry opened
up and extended to Ireland then we
wont get answers to them. And certainly
from the perspective of Irish activists I
know were involved in this there is some
very real problem about the control of
political dissent
Mark Kennedy alone worked in 11 different
countries. He was involved in stitching people up
across Europe, with over 56 cases of people found
guilty being overturned in the UK.

Mark Kennedy in Ireland 2005 with Sarah Hampton and Kim

Bryan.
The German Justice Minister has asked that the
Pitchford Inquiry be extended to include the actions
of British undercover police in Germany. As have
the Justice Minister in Northern Ireland and the
respective counterpart in Scotland.
The Minister of Justice in Ireland is therefore
somewhat alone in adopting a position that says the
state simply refuses to be open and take
responsibility for abuses by British police in Ireland.
It is not disputed by Fitzgerald that Mark Kennedy
and other British undercover officer have work in
Ireland. Mark Kennedy himself was arrested by An
Garda Siochana on the 3rd of Mary 2004 in Dublin.
No doubt Kennedy flipped given that his arrest had
the likelihood of blowing the cover of an British spy
in a top secret political policing unit.
This clearly was a very significant arrest. It not only
could have compromised the work of the NPOIU
overseas, but caused minor political crisis given the
historical context of police collusion in the north, as
well as police dirty tricks targetting Irish political
activists documented by the Dublin Grassroots
Network at the time. See
http://flag.blackened.net/revolt//eufortress/dirty.html
Kennedy himself has stated that he know his
reports and intelligence gathering landed on the
desk of Tony Blair.
As such the demands today are quite limited. That
there be an open investigation to exploring the Irish
state and Irish police force role in what we already
know took place.
Jason Kirkpatrick outline some of these demands.
Im also a core participant in this
Pitchford Inquiry, Im also one of the
people who has started a legal action
here in Ireland against Minister
Fitzgerald. I first met Mark Kennedy in
Dublin in 2005. Since he was outed as an
undercover officer in 2010 Ive spent 7
years just trying to get justice on this. I
would like to have access to my police
files and Ive never gotten them. The
Minister has said that because of public
pressure that weve created that she
has asked the guards to do an internal
police report of Mark Kennedys
operations here.
Is that report gonna be public? Well no,
the minister has said its an issue for her,
if something come up its up to her to
sort it. Well we want answers, and we
demand that that report is made public.
We have been informing the minister for
months now that this British officer
created serious human rights violations
that the police admit. Kennedy was here
five or six times in the Repulic of Ireland.
Were there wrongful or miscarriages of
justice here in Ireland. That has to be
investigated. That has to be made
public. And so far Minister Fitzgerald has
not even shown that she understands
these issues.
We have shared via our solicitor the
experiences of Sarah Hampton here in
Ireland, as the UK police have admitted
and apologised for this. Yet in latest
answers in the Dail to questions
Fitzgerald says the need for an inquiry
does not arise
Darragh Mackin a solicitor with KRL Law, the
solicitors taking the case against Fitzgerald said
Its somewhat shocking that people
need to travel from across Europe to
make a plea to the media to try and
encourage support for what has to be an
effectove and thorough investigation.
That flies in the face of what is, under
the European Convention of Human
Rights, Ireland as we all know has an
obligation to ensure that people within
the jurisdiction at that time. Its
indisputable that there is an empelling
case for an investigation in the cases of
Kate, Kim, Sarah and Jason.
Its clear that a British undercover agent
came to Ireland. That is not disputed. Its
clear that he engaged with sexual
relations with a number of individuals in
what was clearly an abuse of his power.
That goes right to the heart of what is
enshired in the constitution and what is
enshired in the European Convention of
human right in privacy. Its is hard to
imagine a greater violation of the right
to privacy.
He then outlined the how most other
states have taken it upon themselves to
seek to have Pitchford extend to cover
the role of undercover spies to where
they work. Ireland is sigular and uniuque
in its objection. The demand Fitzgerald
and then Department of Justice is that it
makes representation to the UK Home
Office that Pitchford be extended to
Ireland.
Do you think that the situation would be
that if in undercover officer of An Garda
Siochana undercover officers were
operating in London and were having
relationships citizens, do you think for
one second that the Home Department
wouldnt request an investigation.
Lynn Boylan MEP has raised questions in the
European parliament about the role of British spies
working across Europe noted
Just another point to pick up on when you say that
Frances Fistzgerlad doesnt deny that these
inidividual were active here. In 2011 the gardai
were asked to compile a report by Dermot Ahern
who was the Justice Minister at the time. Brendan
Smyth took over before that report was completed
and it was largely expected that the gardia knew of
the presence of these individuals.
Since them we have put in FOIs to get the report.
Fitzgerald has refused, but what she has done is
paraphrased it and she has admitted that the gardia
were aware of these individuals presence in Ireland
and there excuse was that these relationships
between other police force jusisdicttions happen on
a regular basis while the police come over to follow
dangerous individuals that the gardai might not be
aware of.
Now that doesnt tally with what we are hearing in
that Mark Kennedy is responsible for suggesting
this trip [to Ireland in 2005 in the lead up to the G8
in Scotland], he provided the transport for this trip,
he provided the funding for this trip. He came here
and brought the people he was allegedly supposed
to be tracking to this island and Frances Fitzgerald
doesnt find that unusual or warrant a further
investigation. So its an important point that the
gardai have to answer.
And as Darragh has pointed out the Gardai are the
only police force who seem to have been aware of
these individuals. The PSNI have flatly denied of
knowing of there existence in the north, the German
police force the same and the Scottish police force.
And the PSNI have wrote to the British Metropolitan
police saying that they need to have a conversation
with the gardia. And again Frances Fitzgerald
doesnt find that interesting or warrant a further
investigation. So there are a lot of questions for
Frances Fitzgerald on this.
Shell to Sea was represented by Maura Harrington
at the press conference and anti war group
Shannon Watch also expressed full support for an
public open enquiry.
Met Police finally apologise
to spycop abuse survivor
Published February 7, 2017

Sarah Hampton has become the latest woman abused by

undercover police to secure an apology in the fallout from the
spycops inquiry.
Sarah is the eighth person to have received a formal sorry
from the Metropolitan police for the actions of their officers,
who repeatedly deceived women into beginning relationships
while infiltrating activist groups in the 2000s while working for
the shadowy National Public Order Intelligence
Unit (NPOIU).
Despite being outed by activists and later by the newspapers,
it wasnt until 2015, after strenuous efforts at obfuscation, that
the Metropolitan Police finally apologised to seven women
deceived into relationships by undercover officers. Three of
the women in the group had relationships with Mark
Kennedy. But even after the other admissions, the Met
refused to settle a claim from Sarah, pictured above with
Kennedy.
Hampton is a US citizen who met Kennedy whilst on holiday in
Ireland in 2005. She subsequently went onto have a one year
relationship with the man she knew as Mark Stone without any
idea of his true identity.
Having substantially dragged out her case the police have, at
last, run out of excuses, caved in and apologised. As with the
other women, the Met compounded their abuse by subjecting
Hampton to a gruelling legal battle to try to avoid
accountability and then had the gall to pay tribute to her
tenacity in their apology.
Sarah issued this statement:
Love is one of the most sacred things we have in our society
and I fell in love with Mark Stone. He was supportive, attentive
and generous, he behaved like he was in love with me. It
tortures me knowing he was paid to be with me and because it
was such a loving relationship, it was so devastating to find
out it was all a lie.
I have wondered so many times if his superiors have kids;
what would they think if their daughters were preyed upon like
this? I have so much anger inside about this crime against me
and it is only exacerbated by the fact that a government
institution that is there to protect me is responsible. How do
you trust men after this? How do you trust government?
Finding out that Mark was an undercover police officer
brought about a deep depression that seemed impossible to
navigate, there were times I almost gave up completely. The
process of seeking justice on this case has felt at times
belittling, intimidating and downright scary. I didnt know how
was I going to stand up to the Metropolitan Police Force. I felt
I had been raped, I never consented to sleeping with a police
officer.
I kept on fighting the case, using my life as an example of
what should never happen to anyone.
No one should ever be under any circumstance coerced,
invaded, violated and deceived by an undercover police officer
through sexual relationships. Despite the apology I have many
unanswered questions. I have not received the files the police
have on me. I want to know to what extent my private life has
been invaded by the UK police force and what justification is
there for it?
Who gave permission for a British undercover officer to form
and have
a relationship with a US national in Ireland, in the UK, in
Scotland and in Spain?
The police have now apologised to me, saying that the
relationship between Mark Kennedy and I was wrong,
deceitful, manipulative and abusive, that it should never have
happened. That it was an abuse of police power and a
violation of my human rights
It is our responsibility now to make sure that this never
happens again. We are continuing to fight for the truth to be
revealed in the undercover policing inquiry, but it is currently
only looking at events in England and Wales. My experience
shows that the inquiry must be extended to include in
Scotland, Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and other
countries where we know Mark Kennedy and many other
undercover police officers were active.
The Police and government are supposed to be here to serve
the people and they need to be held responsible when
negligent and violating human rights.
https://soundmigration.wordpress.com/2017/02/06/spycops-
press-conference-in-dublin/
Spycops in Northern Ireland?
In related news, NPOIU has also been exposed as having
involved itself in Northern Irish protests and activism,
potentially being linked to two murders. Talking in Belfasts
High Court, Ben Emmerson QC said:
There is sufficient connection to two murders in Northern
Ireland for there to be a need to notify the families of the
involvement of undercover officers We now know that there
was an extensive operation taking place in Northern Ireland
without any supervision at all.
Northern Ireland has been excluded from the ongoing
Pitchford Inquiry into undercover surveillance, something
which Emmerson heavily criticised yesterday:
This is is serious stuff. We simply dont know whether there
may be individuals serving prison sentences in Northern
Ireland who were the subject of false evidence or agent
provocateur. The brass monkey attitude from two secretary of
states is that it is better to see no evil, hear no evil, speak no
evil just turn a blind eye
https://freedomnews.org.uk/met-police-
finally-apologise-to-spycop-abuse-survivor/
The Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan is to meet with
the Northern Irish Secretary of State this afternoon.
Minister Flanagan will hold official talks with James
Brokenshire at Iveagh House in Dublin.
The Minister is expected to raise the issue of British police
officers operating undercover in the Republic during the
meeting.








Charlie Flanagan to raise issue of British police
officers operating undercover in Ireland
14/02/2017

He said this month: The security forces here would be very

concerned about agents from another country operating in this
jurisdiction.
We have had incidents of that in the past.
Brokenshire will discuss how Brexit could affect tourism and
will also talk to industry reps about the implications for the
energy sector and cross-border businesses.
http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/charli
e-flanagan-to-raise-issue-of-british-police-
officers-operating-undercover-in-ireland-
777061.html







Nobody Is Smearing
That Rat Bastard,
Government Confirms
February 13, 2017

YOU DONT know what we know you know we know,
read a government statement, clearing up all unanswered
questions surrounding the treatment of garda
whistleblower Maurice McCabe and the knowledge the
cabinet had regarding the role of Tusla in one of just
countless attempts at smearing him.
What matters is the matter of Minister Zappones matter,
in regards to how much it mattered, matters more or
matters less depending on ones opinion of opinions and
the such like, like, the Taoiseach Enda Kenny confirmed
this morning, in a strong message to the Nation the Fine
Gael led minority coalition had everything under control,
but thats obviously a matter for the minister.
On the allegations made in the Dil last week that Garda
Commissioner Noirn OSullivan had a hand in spreading
false allegations about Maurice McCabe to undermine his
claims of impropriety within the police force Minister for
Justice Frances Fitzgerald was frank, honest and clear.
Nobody is trying to smear that rat bastard,
whistleblowers have our full support. Also, the
Commissioners position is tenable until such a point as it
is untenable, if someone wants to suggest she resign, that
is a sign that to resign is a sign she would in fact resign,
which is fine, the unflustered Minister confirmed.

The government apologised for any perceived lack of
clarity in its handling of the affair, but explained that the
Junior Minister for Alternative Facts was out sick all last
week. Political commentators believe the latest round of
statements from various government ministers, which all
seems to contradict one another is just the sort of coherent
and steady hand the country needs as it continues on its
tentative way to economic recovery.
Elsewhere, members of Sinn Fin were rushed to hospital
with a burst blood vessels as they attempted to show just
how irate and disgusted they are by the scandal. Fianna
Fil have gone on record to state they will be irreversibly
disgusted and outraged by the revelations once they are
certain they have the finances in place to carry out a
successful general election campaign.
This is @OCallaghanJim's Dil speech from Thursday
about the terms of reference. Difficult to find even a veiled
reference to Tusla in there
Stinks to high heaven: Commissioner appointed her
husband to oversee #whistleblower 'investigation'
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/gardai-whistleblower-office-
being-almost-entirely-ignored-35443551.html #MauriceMcCabe

Remember the FF/Lab/FG guff
about "sinister fringes" around water
movements. Turns out they wear
high ranking uniforms & you're
paying them.

May 2014 The Taoiseach met #MauriceMcCabe and
apologised for not taking his concerns seriously.

It's February 2017 now.

Statement just in from Tusla
GSOC, Williams,
Callinan and
Shatter.
Hardly Credible
FEBRUARY 19, 2014 / SOUNDMIGRATION
.entry-meta
.entry-header
Because today we live in a society in
which spurious realities are
manufactured by the media, by
governments, by big corporations, by
religious groups, political groups So I
ask, in my writing, What is real? Because
unceasingly we are bombarded with
pseudo-realities manufactured by very
sophisticated people using very
sophisticated electronic mechanisms. I
do not distrust their motives; I distrust
their power. They have a lot of it. And it
is an astonishing power: that of creating
whole universes, universes of the mind. I
ought to know. I do the same
thing. Philip K. Dick
Update: 12:53. The paragraph about Garda
leaking info to journalists around what was
called the rape tape by traditional media has
been amended following details from another
person involved in the womens media support
team at the time.
Update 13:57 Added info on Rabbles discovery
that the Indo has substantially changed Paul
Williams article without informing readers.
So now that GSOC, Martin Callinans police
force as he likes to describe it and Alan
Shatter and the DoJ have stopped slugging it
out in front of us kids, maybe its time we all
took a breather. It was quite the James Bond
ride there for bit, but all official parties have
made it clear that they want to Put. This.
Behind. Them. Or sweep it under the carpet.
Or make it go away. Or something. Anything to
stop people talking about the elicit
surveillance, or cops running a high level
international heroin smuggler. Or focusing on
the silencing of whistleblowers who are
suggesting there are a lot of people sitting in
prison after being stitched up by dodgy cops.
Shatter has announced he is appointing a
judge to look into things. Though he also said
he is satisfied that no bugging took place
because he hired an Irish security firm, who
have a ongoing DoJ contract, to do a third
sweep of GSOC. Cos like, you know, whoever
was doing the bugging has been sitting on
their arses praying that wouldnt happen right?
Hey numpties, look over there says Independent
News and Media, the countries largest media
corporation. Whose chief editor used to edit the
Garda Review. Its nothing says Generic Crime
Correspondent. And stop pointing at us. We are
just doing out jobs. Political correspondents get
handed their stories all the time too

Getting annoyed with comments on Twitter. Mick to
his credit has engaged and debated after the fallout of
GSOC bugging
Sure I can understand people not wanting to
lose Garda contacts for their stories. And if you
arent pulling the stories in you could get
sacked. Such is the pressure of
contemporary traditional media workplace. Im
completely empathetic to that. But can we all
stop pretending Generic Crime Correspondent is
a position of public service, rather than an
outsourced Garda media strategy. Actually doing
a public service comes with a higher risk of
getting sacked. Just ask Gemma O Doherty,
sacked by INM for having the brass neck to
investigate bent boys in blue.
Many people Ive spoken to you could call them
sources see a macho culture not a million
miles away from the macho pricks regular fixes
of Smack Factor, were dope celebrities are
created to sell newspapers. Generic Crime
Correspondent wants to feel he is doing a
service to democracy? Lets see. How about not
making shit up. Or repeating shit made up by
cops.
Yesterday morning we had Paul Williams on
RTE literally talking non sense about how it was
possible to set up a UK mobile phone network
using a couple of phones from the UK. This was
all false, nothing about it was true. It is simply
not possible. La la land. I hadnt planned on
writing on any specific journalist for fear of
litigation as the issue is systemic but as Paul
Williams likes to frame himself as the top dog I
thought it might be illustrative to talk about my
own direct experience. I dislike what Williams
does not simply for his crimes against writing.
Read his piece comparing GSOC and the recent
stormy weather. Seriously. You have not read
how bad crime fiction can get until you read it.
But thats not the big issue. Just look at what
Rabble have uncovered. On the day William
cries with another long winded moan about PC-
ism, his bosses at the Indo have doctored his
original article. Whatever about not following
online etiquette of making updates, changes and
correction obvious to your readers, this is a
clear case of a media corporation of back
handed sneakiness.
Its important to say too I dont know the guy
personally from adam. My opinion is based upon
observing what he does, and a critical look at
what function he serves. But its also based on
times when his profession job and my personal
experiences collided.
Im sure he is a lovely bloke to many people. It
is his ongoing role in shielding full examination
of alleged police abuses that is problematic. My
dislike is also shaped by his work as a crime
journalist in 2011. Officers of An Garda Siochana
recorded themselves laughing about using the
threat of rape against two women they arrested
walking along a roadside in Rossport. One of
those women was a close friend. They both had
been taking part in a protest earlier that day.
Williams was working for the News Of The
World, a news title shut down in direct response
to widespread revulsion to its journalistic
practices. These included paying dodgy cops,
hacking dead childrens mobile phones and
blackmailing people. The paper closed because
people organised online to shut down its
advertising in a rare show of decentralised
power against a massive media corporation.
The women were upset and angry once they
realised what the arresting officers had done.
One was particularly traumatised by what
traditional media would call the rape-tapes.
Neither thought it was funny at all that the men
who had bundled then into a car could be hear
talking about them. Nor did they think the rest
of the country would think it was funny. And in
support of the women, a few friends got
together and made a point of ensuring the
country did hear about it. And we succeeded.
Most people were abhorred. Rape prevention
and support services condemned the actions as
dangerous and undermined women confidence
in reporting to the police. GSOC was called in to
investigate the matter. Though in this instance
its was clear that GSOC and An Garda Siochana
were working in tandem. (Ill link the extensive
report into this at the bottom.)
During the couple of days after we broke the
story, we got a series of calls from journalists on
one afternoon. All independently saying Paul
Williams was going to do a job on the two
women for News Of The World. It had been clear
in all our dealings with traditional media up to
this point that the women didnt want their
identity to be revealed. They felt they had done
enough in bringing this to public attention,
provoking a national conversation about
policing at Corrib and also sparking widespread
conversation across new media about rape
culture. We were told that Williams intended to
send a journalist and photographer. Earlier in
the week a reporter from the Irish Independent
turned up at one of the womens parents house
in Dublin. That was the address that could only
have come from Belmullet Garda station.
We highlighted this at a press conference. In
response to this, the NOTW sent a reporter and
photographer to a different address that one
could find by Googling one of the womens name.
This was a different address to the one she gave
at Belmullet. The NOTWs strategy was to
rubbish the claim about Garda leaking the
womens details by saying: We just found her
address by Googling her name. But it was
a distraction strategy to hide garda leaking. But
at the point of getting those calls, I was sick to
the bottom of my stomach for my friends. We
expected a fight back from police for
highlighting their shitty behaviour. Thats what
they do everwhere and everytime throughout
history.
The crime correspondents? RTE sat on the
recording for 24hrs without any comment. Their
first report was Orwellian, mentioning that
something inappropriate was said to two
women RTE was later forced to run an apology
over Paul Reynolds false accusations that the
original digital file was tampered with. (As an
aside, in 2010 GSOC didnt even have the
internal capacity to tell if a digital file had been
modified. They had to draw upon a digital
forensics officer from the PSNI. Thats the level
of under resourcing)
Williams coverage of the community struggle in
Co Mayo against a dangerous and untested gas
extraction project is well known, documented
and discredited. He has argued the provisional
IRA, then the Real IRA and eventually the
dissident IRA was really behind it. None of this
is true. Like Pauls description on RTE this week
of how you can use a few UK mobile phones
Dublin to set up a UK mobile network, his claims
are easily rebuked. But his social capital is such
that he gets coverage. Williams shouts louder
and louder that he stands over his stories.
After Verrimus rubbished his pre-record he
appeared on Newstalk doing damage limitation
with more standing over his story. Is there not
something incredibly narcissistic about a
journalism that tries to sidestep the technical
impossibility of facts in stories by by appealing
to the authors credibility? It sounded like
when you were a kid and youd ask a question
and you get the response just because. It was
infuriatingly unsatisfactory answer, right?
Its not about the answers though. Lets not be
fooled. Its about the dynamics of power to
define in the specific context. Parents dont
say just because because its an honest answer.
They say it because it solves a problem. They
say it because they can. Likewise Paul Williams
saying the IRA were behind a large community-
led national campaign, Williams was really
saying its proper that the police be allowed to
beat the shit of people without any close
examination by the wider public. Its ok to
illegally detain them and to fabricate evidence
and to lie in the courts because, well these
people have the whiff of terrorists.
People locally and from every county in the
country who saw what was going on. People
from every continent on the planet who
recognised global pattern of extraction industry
behaviour. People stood up against corrupt
politicians on the make and fair weather friends
like the Green party who dropped the issue as
soon as they got onto government. People who
opposed a monolithic corporation that has
actually funded and armed people to kill
humans so they can extract fossil
fuels. These are the people Paul Williams calls
terrorists. These terrorists are my friends and
comrades. These terrorists are me.
Paul Williams might have market value. But so
to does a protected heroin dealer with a lot to
spill on the cops. Credibility, however, is a
different beast.
There is also a touch of Willie Frazier about Paul
William. Like Frazier, William seems keen to
exploit the real pain and hurt of families to make
a political point. Maybe Im hyper-sensitised to
the smell of parasitical political pain-drawing.
Growing up in a low level war you get a really
good radar for behaviour that seeks to make the
most of a situation on the back of the blood and
hurt of others.
On two separate occasions when Williams was
wheeled out on RTEs Mariane Finucane Show
around the so called rape-tapes he mentioned
the families of two police officers killed by the
IRA. I have yet to come across a more parasitical
use of other peoples pain by a journalist in the
south. Finucane herself said nothing. Ill leave it
to readers to form their own opinion on what it
would be like to have the pain and memory of
your murdered father, or husband being
bandied about on national radio as part of a
discussion on police joking about raping women.
On one of his outings on Marian, Williams tried
to batter away rape jokes as dark humour. 99%
of what i say when Im in certain company
would get me thrown in jail Now thats some
statement. 99%? Thats beyond rhetorical
exaggeration. Its 100% crapola Like I say
market value is one thing, credibility very much
another.
So what about the actual institutions?
GSOC, An Garda Siochana, and the
representative state are, if you believe the hype,
institutional arrangements that are meant to
serve all of us equally. But really, hand on heart,
how many of us believe it? Its not that the
bugging of GSOC makes us feel our really great
democracy is under threat. Merely it is a yet
reminder of what we already know and what
already has officially noted by the institutional
realm. Shatters attitude thus far has been the
standard official state response to those
challenging the behaviour of state bodies. The
first instinct is never to listen, to enquire, or
encourage. Instead is a long established cultural
reflex that glowers How dare you!!
Depending on the specifics, this instinct
manifests itself in different way. If the claim of
wrongdoing/corruption/injustice emanates
from a respectable broadsheet (or you are the
head of a body with thats meant to hold An
Garda Siochana to account for its abuses of
power) the big guns, in this case Shatter and
Callihan, are wheeled out. They smear, and
misrepresent and semantically lie to protect
themselves and their institutions. The other
institution fights back, tries to hold its ground.
But such intra-institutional scraps tend to be
choreographed or at least have their own rules.
Rebukes are given out, and metaphorical blood
letting occurs but within relatively defined and
controlled limits. Too much out-of-control truth
telling in anger can get very problematic very
quickly. An all this is well and good when the
debate is framed and mediated by a mostly
compliant indigenous traditional media.
But that now is suffering from
undernourishment as corporate owners extract
as much wealth as possible without killing the
goose entirely. The strongest pieces within
traditional media in the last week around GSOC
have all been opinion pieces. The media
ecosystem has changed forever though. From
the outset of the story over a week ago the
meaning of what happened and its implications
dominated political discussion on horizontal
mass communication, Facebook, Twitter, blogs
and forums. The analysis on social media has
been far more critical, radical and incisive too
the extent it has had a gravitational pull on
traditional media coverage.
Its all in the game Omar Little
Making institutional respectability respectable,
somehow natural and decreed. Making authority
and obedience seem inevitable and necessary
whether it social policy or pepper spray. This is
the primary function of the game. These
illusions are reproduced and often internalised.
They stop critical examination of any imagined
possible democracy. The rub is this. Until we as
a society stop thinking about those that have
power to over our life and liberty as our betters,
we give up the power to change jack shit, and
we renege on the responsibility to try.
The behaviour of the central characters since
the bugging story broke has been the polar
opposite. What they ultimately are seeking to
protect is institutional respectability and
authority. It is important we learn to not respect
a police force that covers up this. It is really
important we not respect a police force stands
accused of running high level heroin smugglers
and fits up people. These folks are closing rank
for a reason. And its not anything to do with
equality, justice or democracy.
Its worth highlighting some other official
responses to state and allegded police abuses
being called into account. Very few illicit
immediate responses from either sitting
Ministers of Justice or Garda Commissioners.
Compare this to how the many families seeking
resolution, answers and justice after the death
of their children, their kith and kin in Irish
police cells.

As has been shown by the experience of the
families of Terence Wheelock and Brian Rossiter
something very different happens. When
evidence at the very least suggests police
violence within a police station have contributed
to the death of a human being one would expect
full, transparent and timely intervention by the
state. Instead as we have seen the police instead
intimidating family members who try to get
answers about the deaths of their loved ones.
We have seen Ministers of Justice drag heels and
rebuff families. We have seen evidence
disappear from Garda stations. You cant
unknow this nor forget it when you think about
policing. Over 200 people turned up to a public
meeting in a hotel on OConnell St in December
2008 to talk about the reality of day in day out
police brutality. After the panel spoke, person
after person, mostly but not exclusively from
the floor spoke out about mistreatment and
violence. For about three hours solid. Almost
exclusively, but not all young males from
Dublins inner city. These voices we rarely hear
in traditional media, or on Facebook or Twitter
for that matter.

I could and will write more. But I will pose some
last questions. Perhaps not asked too often by
people like me. How corrosive is it for people
to work in a police force whose culture
prioritizes loyalty to the institution above
honesty. How dehumanising is it to sign up for
all the best of intentions, and find yourself
working in a culture of Omert? Where the
protection of institutional respectability is based
upon the hiding of violence,and lies. All the
while fronted with stripes of legitimate state
authority?

Garda Ombudsman's bias & spin in
'rape tape' investigation
https://www.scribd.com/document/881132
66/Garda-Ombudsman-s-bias-spin-in-rape-
tape-investigation-
revealed?ad_group=&campaign=Skimbit%2
C+Ltd.&content=10079&irgwc=1&keyword=
ft500noi&medium=affiliate&source=impactr
adius#












New law would help prevent
home repossessions
At least 30,000 households face losing their homes due to
mortgage arrears
February 23, 17

The Keeping People in Their Homes Bill sets out a range of factors to be
considered, including the effect of home loss on all the household members.
Photograph: iStock
Every week brings new reports of courts around Ireland
granting possession orders on homes often reluctantly.
Research shows that victims of home loss experience a
range of debilitating reactions feelings of painful loss,
frequent symptoms of psychological, social or somatic
distress and a sense of helplessness. The loss of a home
can amount to a serious breach of human rights, and any
person at such risk must be able to have the
proportionality of that measure impartially reviewed.
In Ireland today, it is accepted that at least 30,000
households face losing their homes due to mortgage
arrears. Many are already in vulnerable situations and
will ultimately place unprecedented strain on the State-
supported housing sector. A study of 21,000 households
(2015 Central Bank of Ireland loan-level data and
borrowers standard financial statements) showed that
households facing long-term mortgage arrears were
more likely to have lost their job since taking out the
mortgage; to have experienced a divorce since taking out
the mortgage; to be single borrowers (mostly women)
with three or more children; to have lower incomes; or to
have higher mortgage debt service ratios (monthly
repayment over monthly income).
Bunreacht na hireann provides that the dwelling of
every citizen is inviolable, and a forced possession of a
home can only take place in accordance with law. In
cases of mortgage arrears, the Land and Conveyancing
Law Reform Acts 2009-2013 enable lenders to apply to
the Circuit Court or High Court in some cases for an
order for possession. The Irish State and people have
entrusted to courts the specialised and complex role of
examining and balancing the interests of indebted
households with those of corporate lenders, but Irish
courts have considerable discretion in relation to
making, suspending or executing possession orders. The
court may, if it thinks fit, order that possession be
granted to the applicant on such terms and conditions, if
any, as it thinks fit.

Partisan narrative
Yet there is a partisan narrative that loss of home is
inevitable, to avoid moral hazard, and there are no valid
defences. But there is no detailed consideration of the
impact of home loss on the debtors household, children
or dependants sometimes referred to as third
parties. Little scrutiny is evident of the behaviour of the
corporate entity originating or enforcing the security of
the loan.
Legislators or courts cannot ignore the dominant role of
financial corporations in the Irish housing system.
Modern states are challenged to manage this globalised
interaction between financial actors and national
housing systems evident in Ireland since the early
2000s. Yet Irish legal norms appear trapped in 19th-
century liberal contract law. Treating mortgage debt
simply as a breach of contract law is inappropriate in
contemporary Ireland. Irish courts do not accept that
consumer codes are enforceable in these cases.
Yet, with some 700,000 mortgages held by a handful of
lenders, the consumer law model is clearly relevant. Irish
legislation from 2009 recognises the home loan
borrower as a consumer, while the European Union
offers increasing consumer protection. EU law obliges
courts in all member states to examine mortgage
contracts, as consumer contracts, of their own motion,
for unfair terms. Once this EU consumer law becomes
applicable, courts are obliged to apply the relevant EU
human rights protection.
Purpose of new Bill
Reflecting Irish public opinion, it is for the Oireachtas to
recalibrate Irish mortgage law, notwithstanding judicial
developments in line with separation of powers
principles. The Keeping People in Their Homes Bill
(amending the Land and Reform Conveyancing Act
2009), being launched on Thursday, creates a statutory
base for Irish courts to effectively conduct
proportionality assessments in granting, adjourning,
varying, postponing, suspending or executing home
possession orders.
The Bill sets out a range of factors to be considered,
including the effect of home loss on all household
members. Courts will consider the suitability of other
options, such as mortgage to rent, personal insolvency,
availability of suitable and affordable alternative
accommodation, provision for older persons or persons
with disabilities, and whether the best interests of any
children have been prioritised. Information will be
required on the costs of any necessary emergency
housing, the outstanding loan, and any tax or other
subsidies available to the lender.
Essentially, this means that when there is a choice
between several appropriate measures to achieve the
legitimate objective (realising the security of the
outstanding loan), then Irish courts will adopt the least
onerous one, and the disadvantages caused will not be
disproportionate to the aims pursued.
This Bill provides a viable solution to the commitment in
the programme for government to keep families in their
homes and avoid repossessions insofar as is possible. We
will protect the family home and introduce additional
long term solutions for mortgage arrears cases.
Dr Padraic Kenna is director of the Centre for Housing
Law, Rights and Policy at NUI Galway
http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/new-
law-would-help-prevent-home-
repossessions-
1.2984855#.WK9NJBuv_J4.facebook
This new Bill is amazing.
Wonderful to realise that some Irish Lawyers and academics have
been quietly working away behind the scenes to bring about
legislation to keep people in their homes.
"This Bill will enable Courts to consider the effect of the loss of a
home on all the household members, in particular the impact on
their physical and mental health
Julie Sadlier, a solicitor who has been representing people facing
possession since the economic crash a decade ago, said that this
legislation was long overdue.
The Bill is an amendment to the existing Land and Conveyancing
Law Reform Act 2009, which enables a lender to apply to the
courts for an order of possession.

A significant new Bill aimed at keeping people in their homes, and
backed by the Independent Alliance, is to be introduced to the Dil
later today by Longford/Westmeath TD Deputy Kevin 'Boxer'
Moran.
The Keeping People In Their Homes Bill 2017 provides protection
to home owners facing possession and provides clarity to Irish
courts on examining the proportionality of granting or executing
possession orders on peoples homes.
Deputy Kevin Boxer Moran of the Independent Alliance, who will
introduce the Bill to the Dil, says the legislation aims to change
the way in which home possession cases are decided upon in the
Courts.
The Bill allows courts to consider the circumstances and impact of
home loss on dependents and children in the household, Deputy
Moran said.
The Bill has been drafted with the support of a group of concerned
lawyers and housing law experts who have been working with
home-owners at risk of home loss.
This Bill can immediately help bring clarity and full and fair legal
process to a devastating situation being faced by families every
day, Deputy Moran said.
It also provides a common sense and legal based solution that
can help us meet the Independent Alliances commitment in the
Programme of Partnership which states that we want to keep
families in their homes and to avoid repossessions.
The loss of a home can be one of the most serious breaches of
the right to respect for the home, he continued.
Some 30,000 households are at real and immediate risk of home
loss in Ireland. Deputy Moran said that, at a minimum, this means
that at least 100,000 people, including thousands of children, could
be at risk of homelessness.
Dr. Padraic Kenna, Director of the Centre for Housing Law, Rights
and Policy at NUI Galway, said that the inspiration for this Bill
comes from European consumer, human rights and family law.
The Bill will provide Irish courts with a clear Irish statutory base to
conduct a proportionality assessment in relation to possession
orders.
It seeks to humanise possession proceedings so that people and
families who have no money, who have no choice, who have
nowhere to go and who are facing the dire prospect of losing their
family home, can be protected and supported, Dr. Kenna said.
Essentially, it means that when there is a choice between several
appropriate measures to achieve the objectives legitimately
pursued by legislation, then the court must adopt the least onerous
one, and the disadvantages caused must not be disproportionate
to the aims pursued.
This Bill will enable Courts to consider the effect of the loss of a
home on all the household members, in particular the impact on
their physical and mental health.
Courts will be able to examine any alternative arrangements that
could prevent home loss; the effect of the loss of a home on
children; or the availability of suitable alternative accommodation
that will allow the household to live together.
In addition, the Courts can consider the cost to the State of
providing emergency accommodation and support services to the
household in the event of home loss.
Julie Sadlier, a solicitor who has been representing people facing
possession since the economic crash a decade ago, said that this
legislation was long overdue.
The Bill is an amendment to the existing Land and Conveyancing
Law Reform Act 2009, which enables a lender to apply to the
courts for an order of possession.
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2009/ac
t/27/enacted/en/pdf
IRISH BANK RESOLUTION CORPORATION BILL 2013 ...
Amendment of Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act ... Land
and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009
http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/bills2
8/bills/2013/913/b913d.pdf
DRAFT GENERAL SCHEME OF LANDLORD AND
TENANT - Justice
DRAFT GENERAL SCHEME OF LANDLORD AND TENANT . LAW
REFORM BILL 2011 . ... Amendments and repeals . ... Act of 2009
means the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act
http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Draft%20GS
%20of%20Landlord%20and%20Tenant%2
0Law%20Reform%20Bill%202011.pdf/File
s/Draft%20GS%20of%20Landlord%20and
%20Tenant%20Law%20Reform%20Bill%2
02011.pdf
HSE 'overspends 7m
refurbishing hospital with
no patients' - Dil
committee hears
Labour TD Alan Kelly: 'This issue is a
unique moment where I agree with
Deputy McGrath... its probably a first'
Cormac McQuinn and Philip Ryan
January 19 2017
3
Our Lady's Hospital in Cashel, Co Tipperary. Inset; Alan Kelly TD
(left) and Mattie McGrath TD
A HOSPITAL that allegedly had 'no patients'
in the building during a recent visit by TDs,
saw a HSE overspend of 7m on
refurbishment work it has been claimed.
It is understood that the hospital caters for day patients,
but hasn't had inpatients for a number of years.
'Not one single patient' in Tipperary hospital
that incurred 7m overspend, Dil committee
hears
Independent TD Mattie McGrath has written to the Dil's
Public Accounts Committee (PAC) over concerns at the
alleged overspend at Our Lady's Hospital in Cashel, Co
Tipperary.
Labour TD Alan Kelly told the committee that he visited
the hospital with the health minister on one occasion and
"there wasnt one single patient in the building".
He said the issue is "a unique moment where I agree with
Deputy McGrath from Co Tipperary. Its probably a first."
"This is an incredible story which goes back the guts of 20
years in relation to agreements that there will be a new
role for this hospital," he said.
Alan Kelly. Photo: Tom Burke
"I visited this hospital with the minister for health just to
tell the committee there wasnt one single patient in the
building.
"So its not just a case of where did the 7m go. Its a case
of what is it being used for or what will it potentially be
used for while South Tipperary General Hospital, which
we all know, is one of the biggest overcrowding situations
in Ireland," Mr Kelly added.
Independent TD Mattie McGrath. Photo: Tom Burke
Sinn Fin TD Mary Lou McDonald said there's "a strong
argument for just calling the HSE in fairly promptly".
"To read from Deputy McGraths correspondence, its not
just that theres nobody in it. He states that in fact it will
never have patients on beds. Thats his assertion," she
added, before saying she didn't know if that's "correct or
incorrect".
Mr Kelly said: "Many of us have been arguing that its
obviously a disgrace that this facility is left like that.
"Not alone is it being left like that but the HSE are refusing
to use it in relation to step down as regards people who are
going through the theatres in South Tipp General Hospital
and having their procedures.
"If its not going to be used as step down what in the name
of God is it going to be used for?," he asked.
PAC Chairman Sen Fleming proposed writing to the HSE,
enclosing Mr McGrath's letter and seeking "a full
explanation of this overspend".
Meanwhile, Health Minister Simon Harris has called on
the HSE to address the allegations.
Mr Harris said the HSE should absolutely come before
the PAC to explain why the money was spent.
As a former member of the PAC I welcome any time the
Public Accounts Committee looks into how taxpayers
money is spent and properly scrutinised and I expect the
HSE will cooperate fully, he said.
It is important to note that the hospital in Cashel is not
meant to see patients overnight.
"It is a hospital that largely provides primary care
facilities. I do believe there is potential for that hospital to
do much more.
"I have raised that with the HSE and I would like to see
greater cooperation between South Tipperary General
Hospital in Clonmel and also Our Ladys Hospital in
Cashel, he added.
http://www.independent.ie/irish-
news/health/hse-overspends-7m-
refurbishing-hospital-with-no-patients-dil-
committee-hears-35380427.html
WOMENS COALITION NOTE: Social services had led the public
to believe that Hayley had gone into the bathroom and taken a
drug, and that is what caused her death. This was obviously to
deflect blame from the judge and them. Now it is confirmed that
was not the case. Hayley was clean and it was just the shock of
the judge's ruling taking her precious children away from her that
caused the heart attack. Her Facebook page is proof of just how
much she loved and was devoted to her children as there are tons
of pictures and collages of them.
Hayleys death is the tragic result of the systemic discrimination
against women in family courts around the world resulting in the
loss of custody of our children. Women must unite and demand a
new system which gives us the power to keep and protect our
children.
REVISION: The article said that Hayley died AFTER a family court
hearing, which makes it sound like she did not die in court in front
of the judge who just ruled to take her kids away. So "after" was
replaced with "[during]".

http://www.womenscoalitioninternational.o
rg

Dear Angelina,

I am writing you on behalf of
thousands of women around the
world to warn you about the
discrimination you will face in Family
Court in your effort to maintain your
primary nurturing role, now that
Brad has officially filed his response
Friday to your divorce petition
requesting joint custody.

All of us went into court feeling
confident, believing our rights as
women had, for the most part, been
secured, sure in the knowledge that
we would receive due process and
equal protection in a just system. We
believed that since we had been the
primary nurturer of our children
their entire lives, we would be able to
maintain that role, as that would
obviously be best for them. We never
could have imagined how powerless
we would be to merely maintain our
relationship with our kids or, for
some of us, to be able to protect
them, given that a majority of fathers
who fight for custody are unfit or
abusive.

Nobody warned us, so we are
warning you, and through this open
letter, hopefully many other women
as well.

This is the way it works:
Our primary nurturing role and
importance in our children's lives is
devalued, while the father's
importance is exaggerated and his
supposed right to half-time
prioritized over the childrens best
interest. Any unfitness or abuse by
the father is minimized or
disregarded, while judges and court-
affiliated officials fabricate evidence
against us to justify taking our
children away and giving them to the
father half or full-time. We are being
falsely labeled liars, alienators,
abusive, mentally ill, too enmeshed,
whatever.

Most of us are placed on some sort of
restricted visitation, giving the father
control. Many women are not even
allowed to see their children
unsupervised or at all. Many have
been jailed, some imprisoned for
long periods of time for going into
hiding to protect children, or for
exercising their first amendment
right to speak out about the
injustices in their case.

I know youre probably thinking the
same thing all of us thought going
into this nightmare: That could not
possibly happen to me. I have been an
excellent mother. I am a good citizen. I
contribute to society. I have no
criminal history. There is abundant
evidence that the reason I want
primary custody is because that is a
continuation of what has been and
what is best for my children. I am sure
the court will do what is in the best
interest of the children. After all, that
is their mandate, isnt it?

Well, yes, the best interest of the
children is the Courts ultimate
mandate. However, the system is
designed so judges can, effectively, do
whatever they want. And what judges
and other court officials want is to 'go
along to get along' with the old-boys
and their agenda to maintain
paternal power and control in the
family.

But what about system oversight, you
might be wondering. If they do the
wrong thing, I will have options. Well,
no, because they have that wrapped
up too. There is no effective oversight
for family courts. The Appellate
Courts are also, by design, able to
empower fathers, rather than uphold
law or policy, through the special
discretionary standard afforded
family court judges. And the judicial
ethical commissions, the only other
oversight, simply ignore us.

You see, ever since the '70's when
women gained the power to leave
men and exist on their own--ending
the historical control men have had
over women for millennia--fathers
rights groups have operated an
effective backlash. They understand
that control of children means
continuing control of "their" women.
The power to take custody from us
allows them to make the viable
threat that they will take our
children if we do not stick around or
do what they want. They can use the
rigged system to punish us for
leaving or to gain financially by
avoiding child support, or even
receiving child support from us. They
can also seriously damage or ruin us
financially through lengthy and
costly litigation.

One by one, women are being
destroyed in a court system which
they belatedly come to realize was
designed not to ensure the best
interest of children, but to maintain
male power and control over them.
Fathers' rights groups have always
understood that this is mens most
important political as well as social
battle. They have lobbied for
mandatory equal parenting and
friendly-parenting laws which help
empower men and disempower
women. These laws or presumptions
are now in force in most states, which
is what Brad will use to take your
children from you. And the clincher:
Brad just may get primary custody
using the friendly parent law. That
enables him to claim you are
alienating, interfering with his
relationship with the kids or just
uncooperative because you are trying
to get primary custody and/or
reported abuse by him.

Youre probably wondering why, if
this is such an epidemic, you are not
aware of it. That's because we are
being gagged-ordered, jailed and
threatened with permanent loss of
our children if we dare exercise our
First Amendment right and speak out
about the discrimination, oppression
and injustice we are facing. They
have all the power because they have
the ultimate weapon: our children.
Also because the media refuses to
cover it.

You must be thinking, This is crazy.
This is the third millennium. This can't
be happening. I cannot lose my
children. But it is happening. We have
research, experience, social media
and thousands of case histories
which prove that children are being
taken away from women in epidemic
numbers all over the world,
wherever women have gained the
power to live independently of men.

Men have always been acutely aware
of the fact that control in the family is
their greatest power, while women
have been too busy gaining equal
rights outside the home to grapple
with this issue of the right to our
children. But the time has come now
to focus on that and we hope you will
join us in the most important
womens rights battle of the
millennium: the fight for our
children. This is the most important
right as most of us would rather be
paid less, or beaten, raped or
tortured than have our kids taken
from us.

The Womens Coalition, a new grass
roots organization, has finally taken
up the cause to gain women the right
and the power to keep and protect
our children. We have petitioned the
United Nations Commission on the
Status of Women, who subsequently
confirmed gender discrimination in
family courts is a widespread,
international problem. We recently
participated in Yoko Onos Arising:
Testaments of Harm exhibit which
contains almost a hundred of our
stories, with pictures of our eyes,
contending that the worst form of
harm that can be inflicted on a
woman is for her children to be taken
or not protected. We also made a
collection of videos which we used in
an attempt to get media attention.
[All these are linked to below.]

Having duly warned you about what
awaits you, we certainly hope that
your case is the exception to the rule
and that what happened to so many
of us does not happen to you. We
want you to know that we all support
you in your effort to get primary
custody of your six wonderful
children.
Childrens hospital most
expensive to construct in
world
Cost of National Childrens Hospital on St Jamess site
has soared to about 1bn
February 23, 17
The proposed 1 billion National Childrens Hospital in
Dublin will be the most expensive childrens hospital to
be built anywhere in the world, according to
international data.
The hospital on the St Jamess site will join the futuristic
Royal Adelaide Hospital in Australia on a list of the
worlds 20 most expensive buildings. The Australian
hospital, which has so far cost 2.2 billion, will use
robots to deliver food to 800 patients.
Most details about the spiralling costs of the Irish project
are likely to emerge shortly at the Dil Public Accounts
Committee, which has summoned the team planning it
to a meeting amid growing concerns.
In 2012, it was expected to cost 404 million. By the
time the contract was awarded for the St Jamess site, it
had jumped to 485 million. Two years ago, when an
application for planning permission was lodged, it had
increased to 650 million. Today, the figure has reached
1 billion, but it could go higher.
Tnaiste defends spiralling cost of new childrens hospital
Alarm bells ring as childrens hospital costs spiral
Minister for Health to bring Childrens Hospital plan to Cabinet
The new hospital will have 473 beds, all in single rooms,
and the budget includes the construction of two smaller
satellite centres at Tallaght and Blanchardstown. It does
not, however, include IT and equipment.
US hospitals
After Adelaide and Dublin, the next most expensive
hospitals on the list compiled by architectural data
company Emporis are three US hospitals finished in
2012, for between 546 million and 617 million each.
Two are in Chicago and the other is a womens hospital
in Texas.
Like Dublin, the hospital in Adelaide has had a difficult
birth. That was supposed to open in April 2017 but
became bogged down in a bitter legal battle over alleged
defects, which were only recently settled, between the
South Australian authorities and the builders. So far, it is
$640 million over budget.
However, the Royal Adelaide still does not have a fixed
opening date. Theres no reason why we couldnt be in
before flu season hits in 2017, South Australias health
minister Jack Snelling declared earlier this month.

The recently built Alder Hey Childrens Hospital in

Liverpool was designed by the same architects involved
at St Jamess. With 270 beds, it is smaller than the Irish
childrens hospital but the cost is just 280 million
(330 million). The price actually dropped by almost
60 million due to a downturn in construction at the
time. Opened in 2015, it is located in parkland in a
suburb of the city.
The projected cost for St Jamess compares unfavourably
with the 120 million projected cost of building the 170-
bed National Forensic Mental Health Service Hospital in
Portrane.
Meanwhile, moving the National Maternity Hospital in
Dublin from Holles Street to the St Vincents site in Elm
Park is now expected to cost 300 million, twice the
original estimate.
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/ch
ildren-s-hospital-most-expensive-to-
construct-in-world-1.2985568
No grass. No nappies. Here is a
definitive list of what you can
recycle
Over a third of all recycling or green bins are contaminated with things
like electrical goods and liquids.
Jan 27th 2017

Image: Laura Sherry

/Photo Text content
A THIRD OF all Irish recycling bins are contaminated.
A survey of over 1,300 people conducted by Repak, found
that despite 90% of respondents recycling on a regular basis,
over 53% of those surveyed were not entirely sure what can
and cannot go into their recycling bin.
According to research by Repak, 65% of people dont know
that just one piece of contaminated packaging can ruin an
entire recycling bin, and another 30 werent aware you could
contaminate.
So what are you supposed to recycle? You can view the
entire list here, but weve also given a flavour below:
Paper, newspapers, and magazines
Mineral and water bottles
Salad dressing bottles
Milk/juice bottles and cartons
Egg boxes
Fruit containers (but not the fruit netting)
Yoghurt containers
Margarine tubs
Rigid food packaging
Paper potato bags

Source: Shutterstock/monticello
Tissue boxes (but tissues should be placed in compost
bin)
Cosmetic bottles, including mouthwash bottles
Household cleaning bottles
 Liquid soap containers
Empty deodorant cans (plastic lid separate)

Source: Shutterstock/weedezign
Pet food cans
Food cans
Biscuit tins
Soup tins
Glass (but take it to your local bottle bank or
recycling centre)
What you CANT recycle
Repaks marketing manager Laura Sherry says that last year
she met with waste management companies, and the most
common complaint they had about contamination was
nappies, grass cuttings and food contaminated packaging.
She said that these would ruin an entire recycling bins
contents.

Paper, cardboard, aluminium, some plastics are all

recyclable. If you recycle a can of coke, 6-10 weeks later it
will be back on the shelves having been recycled.
But there are some plastics that cant be recycled, and it can
be quite difficult to tell the difference sometimes. A
takeaway cup, for example, can have a type of plastic in it
that cant be recycled and is difficult to separate from the
recycled part.
Sherry says that theyre planning to push companies to
ensure all packaging they use is fully recyclable.
(Repak are in charge of helping companies that produce
over 10 tonnes of packaging a year be responsible for where
their packaging goes.)
Other things like batteries, electrical goods, and compost
can be recycled, but arent meant to go in the recycling
bin.
Batteries can be brought to supermarkets to be recycled,
electrical goods are to be brought to large recycling centres,
and compost can be recycled in gardens.
Each year 100,000 tonnes of contaminated recyclable
material is sent to landfill which causes considerable
damage to the environment.
So the message is although a material might be recyclable,
that doesnt always mean it goes in the recycle bin.
In 2015, approximately 28,000 tonnes of paper and
cardboard packaging, 13,000 tonnes of plastic and 29,000
tonnes of glass was sent to landfill because of contamination
thats the equivalent of 550 Boeing 737 jets at maximum
take-off capacity.
Repak is a for purpose packaging recycling scheme funded
by contributions from more than 2,085 participating
members companies. Since 1997, over 10 million tonnes of
used packaging has been diverted from landfill.
http://www.thejournal.ie/recycling-
3206872-Jan2017/

When Dil ireann was established the idea was that it would
be our national parliament and TD's would be elected to
legislate and pass laws that would benefit all the people of
Ireland. The elected TD's would vote to elect a Taoiseach who
would select a cabinet from people with ability and skills
relevant to their Ministry.
Somewhere along the way however our parliament has been
corrupted by political parties - mainly Fianna Fil and Fine
Gael, who have put in place a whipped party system that flies
in the face of democracy. Those two parties between them
have been in power since independence and have kept their
grip on power with the help of minority parties like the Labour
Party, the PD's, Clann na Poblachta, the Green Party and
various others.
But at the last election there was a seismic change and the Big
Two were for the first time unable to form their usual cosy
cartel. Fine Gael eventually cobbled together a government
with the help and support from the sidelines of their pretend
arch-enemy Fianna Fil. This government is vying for the title
of "Worst Government In Our History" and has been limping
along with the now dead duck Kenny and will try to survive a
bit longer with a new leader who will be as bad or not worse
than the inept Mayo man. The problem for Michel Martin and
his Fianna Fil party is that although they are showing a revival
in the polls, they are not going to get a majority (ever again) in
a General Election. After the next GE the roles will be reversed
and Fianna Fil will be dependant on the Blueshirts.
But it is important to keep those two parties out of complete
control as they have been used to since 1922. If we elect TD's
like Mick Wallace, Galway TD Catherine Connolly and Clare
Daly they will hold the government to account and prevent the
abuses that have blighted this country since Independence.
Barefaced cheek.
This is the kind of back stabbing skullduggery you can expect
from Fianna Fil...
The most popular party in the country.
Kingdoms are called kingdoms because they are ruled by
kings. Countries are called countries because they are ruled
by....


Margaretta D'Arcy, Dublin Says No solidarity protest 23/2/2014
Today for the second Sunday in a row, Dublin Says No marched to mountjoy
prison in solidarity with Margareta D'Arcy currently imprisoned at mountjoy
by the Irish state for her nonviolent direct action at Shannon

Margaretta D'Arcy: Dublin Says No Solidarity

Protest, 23-2-2014
YOUTUBE.COM
Looking for a job? The Defence
Forces are recruiting 860
personnel
Defence Minister Paul Kehoe today announced a major recruitment
drive for defence Forces for 2017.
February 23, 17

THE DEFENCE FORCES have announced plans to recruit

close to a thousand new personnel.
Defence Minister Paul Kehoe today announced a major
recruitment drive for 2017.
The recruitment is aimed at honouring the Governments
commitment to keep the strength levels of the Defence
Forces which includes the Army, Naval Service and Air
Corps at 9,500 personnel.
In total, the forces are seeking to recruit 860 new personnel
across all services this year.
Commenting on the launch of the drive, Minister Kehoe said
that it was extremely significant and was targeting general
service recruits, apprentices and cadets.

It opens up significant opportunities, across the Army, Air

Corps and Naval Service, for young people to serve their
country as members of glaigh na hireann, said Kehoe.
For each individual, it also offers a unique career
opportunity and first class training.
Kehoe also spoke about the importance of diversity and
inclusion in the Defence Forces.
He encouraged women and new Irish in particular to join
up.
It is important that glaigh na hireann represents the
richness and diversity of the community it serves, he said.
The Defence Forces welcomes and respects all, irrespective
of gender, creed, ethnicity or sexual orientation.
Recruitment for general enlistment is already underway.
People can apply on military.ie