Former Garda Maurice McCabe - who was subjected to a smear campaign after he alleged widespread malpractice within the force - believes 'nothing has changed' when it comes to the State's treatment of gardai who come forward and disclose wrongdoing.
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who → subject → wrongdoing
In a wide-ranging and at times emotional interview with the Irish Mail on Sunday, Mr McCabe urged the Government to ‘listen to’ Garda whistleblowers who have gone public in recent weeks and to ‘support’ them.
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who → range → them
Mr McCabe became a household name following a State-sponsored campaign that was waged against him after he made protected disclosures about wrongdoing in the force.
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he → become → force
The former garda was ultimately vindicated by a State tribunal.
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garda → vindicate → tribunal
However, Mr McCabe said this weekend he has ‘gone through hell’ as a result of his whistleblowing actions.
And he revealed that, when he read coverage in the MoS relating to the treatment of other gardaí who have taken up the baton to expose wrongdoing, ‘my heart jumps when things like that come up again’.
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things → say → that
‘Sadly,’ he told the MoS, ‘things haven’t… changed.
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things → tell → MoS
Mr McCabe was referring to revelations in the MoS about the treatment of Garda whistleblowers whose identities were exposed by former justice minister Helen McEntee after they made separate protected disclosures to her office.
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they → refer → office
In one case, a confidential disclosure by a serving Garda Superintendent, Brian O’Reilly – whom the MoS is naming for the first time – relating to alleged wrongdoing by Garda management was sent, with his name attached, to his bosses at headquarters.
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name → serve → headquarters
Ms McEntee has insisted she always followed whistleblower legislation but is refusing to bow to mounting political pressure to answer questions about her handling of the disclosures in the Dáil.
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she → insist → Dáil
Mr McCabe said he was ‘shocked’ to read about the treatment of his fellow Garda whistleblowers.
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he → say → whistleblowers
‘Something has gone wrong, and I feel sorry for them because it’ll always affect them.
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it → go → them
It has always affected me, and it’s going to affect me until I die,’ he said.
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he → affect → me
Several of the more recent Garda whistleblower controversies highlighted by the MoS centre around protected disclosures about defective gun holsters.
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Several → highlight → holsters
Last weekend, the family of murdered Detective Garda Colm Horkan – who was shot dead in the line of duty when his killer wrestled his Garda-issue firearm from him – said they called for a public inquiry into the faulty holsters because their letters to Ms McEntee and current Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan were largely ignored.
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letters → murder → McEntee
Details of the faulty leather holsters were first highlighted three years ago after the MoS published the contents of protected disclosures made by a Garda whistleblower.
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MoS → highlight → whistleblower
This serving garda had warned as far back as 2019 that the holsters for Sig Sauer and Walther pistols could allow the guns to be easily taken by an assailant or to be discharged accidentally.
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guns → serve → assailant
On June 11, 2020, a garda on duty outside the Israeli Embassy in Dublin suffered life-changing injuries when his firearm went off accidentally.
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firearm → suffer → injuries
Six days later, Det Garda Horkan was fatally shot 11 times with his own gun by Stephen Silver in Castlerea, Co. Roscommon.
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Horkan → shoot → Castlerea
In both incidents, the officers were wearing the defective gun holsters.
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officers → wear → holsters
Supt O’Reilly later made further damning disclosures about the holsters, the details of which were also published by the MoS, corroborating the first whistleblower’s allegations.
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details → make → allegations
The senior officer is one of two Garda whistleblowers whose identity was exposed by Ms McEntee’s office.
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identity → expose → office
In an attempt to diffuse the deepening controversy, ministers McEntee and O’Callaghan have publicly said over the past ten days that, in their view, Supt O’Reilly disclosed his own status as a whistleblower to former Garda Commissioner Drew Harris.
However, Supt O’Reilly disputes this and said Ms McEntee’s ‘explanation is misleading’.
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explanation → diffuse → this
Writing in today’s MoS, the senior officer said earlier ‘correspondence’ with Commissioner Harris ‘was not identical to the separate protected disclosure submitted to the minister’.
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correspondence → write → minister
Garda whislteblower Maurice McCabe sat down with the Mail's John Lee this week
Supt O’Reilly also described Mr O’Callaghan’s ‘public characterisation’ of the handling of his protected disclosure as ‘incomplete and misleading’.
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O’Reilly → sit → disclosure
Mr McCabe also said he is disappointed by the reaction of the current Government to the latest series of damaging disclosures.
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he → say → disclosures
He urged the Government not to take the path a previous administration took after he revealed wrongdoing within the Garda.
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he → urge → Garda
‘I think these whistleblowers should be listened to.
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whistleblowers → think → ?
That’s what I’d be saying.
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I → ’ → what
They should be listened to….
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They → listen → ?
the Government should support these people.’
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Government → support → people
Referring to his own treatment, Mr McCabe added: ‘Look at the way I was treated and I’m not going to dwell on it.
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I → refer → it
Everybody said I was wrong but it ended up that Peter Charleton, the judge, said: “No, he’s not wrong.
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he → say → ?
He’s 100 per cent right.”
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He → ’ → ?
In October 2018, the Disclosures Tribunal found that then-Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan, aided by a press officer, carried out a smear campaign against Sergeant Maurice McCabe.
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Callinan → find → McCabe
One month earlier, the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland published its final report, which was also critical of the treatment of Sgt McCabe.
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which → publish → McCabe
In his 2018 report, tribunal chairman Judge Charleton outlined what he called the ‘obligations of gardaí’, saying the organisation must put its obligation to the public above any false sense of loyalty between officers and the impulse to stick up for each other.
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organisation → outline → other
Mr McCabe was visibly emotional as he recounted his experience of trying to expose wrongdoing.
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he → recount → wrongdoing
‘It has damaged me big time, and I’ll always be damaged by it,’ he said.
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he → damage → it
‘It was 11 years of hell that we went through… just hell.’
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we → go → that
Asked what in particular had damaged him, he replies: ‘The reaction by everybody.’
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he → ask → everybody
…and 20 more, not listed.
The Aporia
