THE Garda Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, has telephoned the Minister for Justice to discuss the attack on her by the Garda Representative Association.
Senior sources in the Department of Justice confirmed last night that Mr Byrne had spoken to Mrs Owen yesterday but they had not held a face-to-face meeting yet to discuss the issue.
They refused to state the nature of the discussion or to say if Mr Byrne dissociated himself from the comments of the GRA general secretary, Mr John Ferry. It is believed in political circles that the Commissioner would have distanced himself from the remarks.
There has been no public statement from the Commissioner since Monday when an editorial in the Garda Review strongly criticised the Minister for her handling of the Judge Dominic Lynch delisting affair. Nor have the Garda authorities commented on further highly critical remarks made by Mr Ferry on RTE.
Government sources said last night the matter would be left between the Minister and the Commissioner. Mr Byrne's predecessor, Mr Patrick Culligan, had to apologise to Mrs Owen earlier this year following criticism of her by Mr Ferry's deputy, Mr P.J. Stone.