Air Corps commander dismissed from service

A SQUADRON commander in the Air Corps has become the first commissioned officer to be dismissed from the Defence Forces for decades.

Comdt Niall Donohoe (47) was convicted yesterday by a general court martial at McKee barracks in Dublin. He was found guilty last week of using insulting language to a superior officer, an offence which carries a maximum prison sentence of two years.

Comdt Donohoe called his commanding officer Lieut Col Gerry O’Sullivan a “little prick”.

The incident occurred at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel, on January 30th, 2009, when Lieut Col O’Sullivan was discussing Comdt Donohoe’s appraisal for the year 2008.

Lieut Col O’Sullivan gave Comdt Donohoe the lowest possible grade of “unsatisfactory” and did not recommend him for promotion.

Comdt Donohoe denied the charge and instead claimed that he used the expression “this is a little prickly”.

Military judge Col Tony McCourt said the military board, which acted as a jury in the case, believed the evidence of Lieut Col O’Sullivan and “firmly rejected” Comdt Donohoe’s account of what had happened. “Having seen and heard all the witnesses give their evidence, I have no hesitation in saying that I agree with the findings of the board in this case,” the judge said.

The case centred on the four words, “you’re a little prick”. Though there were no independent witnesses, the case took five days, involved four barristers and about a dozen witnesses.

Judge McCourt said Comdt Donohoe had taken advantage of the confidential nature of the appraisal hearing to “deliver a gross insult” to his commanding officer in the belief that he would get away with it because there was nobody else at the meeting.

He had made a “grave mistake” in that regard.

The judge said Comdt Donohoe could not have been surprised at the contents of the appraisal given his poor relationship with his commanding officer.

Therefore his remark was “not just an ill-considered, bad-tempered or impromptu response in the heat of the moment”, but a “gross and calculated” insult to Lieut Col O’Sullivan.

Such language constituted “gross misconduct” and “an unacceptable breach of the standards of discipline” required by every member of the Defence Forces but especially towards a senior commissioned officer with 28 years experience, the judge said.

He told Comdt Donohoe that his offence warranted a 12 months custodial sentence and dismissal with disgrace. However, he took into account a number of mitigating circumstances.

Comdt Donohoe had no previous breaches of military discipline and his yearly appraisals which were read out in court had been good.

He had served overseas on peacekeeping duties and pulled a colleague from the line of fire during an incident in Lebanon.

A number of character witnesses were called on his behalf. A colleague, Comdt Mark Gartland, told the court that Comdt Donohoe had saved the Air Corps €1.5 million in fuel costs when he was in charge of stores.

He was a father of two young children and heavily involved in his local GAA club.

The judge also took into account his medical history as Comdt Donohoe had been off on regular periods of sick leave suffering from work-related stress from July 2007.

The judge agreed to a defence application to have 11 outstanding charges against Comdt Donohoe heard as five separate trials and put the matter back for mention on June 29th.

Comdt Donohoe confirmed after the hearing that he will be appealing both the conviction and the sentence. He will have 21 days to appeal his conviction to a court martial appeals board which will be headed up by a civilian judge.

A Defence Forces spokesman said the dismissal of a commissioned officer was “unprecedented in living memory”.

Comdt Donohoe’s dismissal will have to be confirmed by the President and the Cabinet.