Miriam Lord: Champions of Garda whistleblowers show grit

Not for the first time, it's full marks for parliamentary persistence to Clare Daly and Mick Wallace.

The two Independents 4 Change TDs must be used to the drill by now: they bang their heads against a brick wall until a politician the Government finds difficult to ignore takes up the case.

Micheál Martin did that on Wednesday.

For more than two years Clare and Mick have been telling the Dáil about the “plight” of two Garda whistleblowers and how the force they pledged to serve rewarded their courage in speaking out by treating them as pariahs.

Sporadic media reporting didn’t get much traction.

“Nineteen times,” Daly reminded the House during Leaders’ Questions.

That's how often either she or Wallace stood up in the national parliament to highlight the alleged treatment of these whistleblowers by erstwhile colleagues. To them, what made this story all the more shocking was that the officers were subjected to this behaviour in what was supposed to be a new era of openness for An Garda Síochána, when whistleblowers would not only be protected, but positively encouraged.

In the bright dawn of post-Callinan contrition, Garda management vowed to sweep away the cobwebs and throw out its inward and secretive approach to policing and accountability. Yet still the stories persisted.

Which brings us back to the start. For all the promises of a “root and branch” reform of the force after the whistleblowing controversies that rocked the justice system during the last government, it was a case of “here we are, back to square one”, said Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald.

‘Absolute confidence’

There was certainly a dispiriting sense of deja vu about the Dáil exchanges.

When Fine Gael scraped back into power earlier this year and Enda Kenny plotted his final lap as Taoiseach, the last thing he will have wanted was another punishing stint in the chamber defending a Minister for Justice and Garda Commissioner against fresh allegations of sweeping serious problems under the carpet.

Yet here he was, expressing his “absolute confidence” in the new set of incumbents.

“I have no reason not to,” he said.

Daly was withering in her response.

"It's a bit like when you gave 100 per cent confidence to the last two [Alan Shatter and Martin Callinan] before it went to zero overnight."

Rest assured, neither the Taoiseach nor his Minister for Justice have forgotten those turbulent months for the then majority government.

They will not want a repeat.

Apart from Mick and Clare, most of the members of Dáil Éireann haven’t appeared concerned by the very troubling claims of the whistleblowers, even though they’ve been in the public domain for long enough. The detail of what has happened to these two men and how their circumstances have changed terribly has been supplied in the House again and again.

Here’s Wallace speaking during Leaders’ Questions to the Minister for Justice in May of last year, attempting to draw attention once again to the problems these two men were enduring because they reported alleged wrongdoing within the force to the relevant authorities.

“The only communication they are getting is bullying and intimidation. I am not saying it is the Minister’s fault. I am saying the system is not working. I am sorry but it appears to me that the Minister is not being kept accurately informed by An Garda Síochána. These people are in a bad place, and they need help and protection,” he said.

“Both gardaí can make their points within the force in regard to their current experience. I am informed that all of the actions that need to be taken to investigate their complaints are being taken,” replied Fitzgerald.

And that was that. Apparently, Nick Keogh and Keith Harrison have heard nothing back in relation to their complaints about being hounded and undermined by people within the force.

Growing ranks

So why all the sudden interest in the two whistleblowers from the midlands?

Because two more whistleblowers have emerged to join the growing ranks. But here’s the twist: this is an inside job.

The men, described as senior officers, are blowing the whistle on wrongdoing against whistleblowers.

According to Daly, they know of “systematic, organised, orchestrated campaigns, not just to discredit a whistleblower, but to annihilate him” and they say it was done with the full involvement of top Garda management.

One of them says he engaged in some of the undermining, but he was acting on orders and regrets it now.

They have made “protected disclosures”. Daly claims the Garda Commissioner has been aware of them for some time, while the Taoiseach confirmed in the Dáil on Wednesday that information had recently been received by the Minister. She would need time to review it, he said, repeating it was a very serious matter which needs careful examination.

Harassment

“Somebody must do that and I expect it will be – or certainly could be – a member of the judiciary who would examine the contents of the received documents and see if they stand up or not,” she said.

At this rate, we'll have to start importing judges from abroad to sit on our burgeoning number of inquiries and assemblies. Shane Ross putting the kibosh on further judicial appointments until well into next year won't help.

Given that Daly and Wallace have been alleging and highlighting various instances of harassment of whistleblowers, the rush to look into it now is puzzling. The Garda Commissioner issued a statement saying she wanted these “most recent allegations” examined as quickly as possible.

While, in the distance, Nick Keogh and Keith Harrison are still jumping up and down and waving in Nóirín O’Sullivan’s direction shouting: “We’re over here! We’re over here!”