Sergeant Maurice McCabe and "Corrupt" Garda Officers

Sergeant Maurice McCabe - Whistle-blower Extraordinaire

Introduction and Background

[As there are numerous actors in this drama I have highlighted in red those who have already resigned and in pink those who may be forced out in the near future]

According to the Wikipedia article on Garda Whistleblower Scandal
"In 2014, material revealed by two Garda Síochána (Irish police) whistleblowers, Maurice McCabe and John Wilson, as well as the handling of the material and of the whistleblowers, led directly to the resignation of Ireland's then Minister for Justice and Equality, Alan Shatter. It was also part of the background leading up to the resignation of the Garda Commissioner, Martin Callinan. It was also part of the reason for the retirement of his successor [as Garda Commissioner] Nóirín O'Sullivan."

This summary fails to mention the fact that the Secretary General of the Department of Justice Brian Purcell was also forced to resign in 2014 after the then Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar said his Department was "not fit for purpose" and the new Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald failed to support him. Leo Varadkar and Frances Fitzgerald are now respectively Taoiseach (Prime Minster) and Tanaiste (Deputy PM). The former is facing a demand from the opposition that he sack the latter - or else- for her alleged failure to deal with an alleged campaign of intimidation by Garda officers against Maurice McCabe. 

Meanwhile the present Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan has accused Labour Deputy Alan Kelly of carrying out a "smear campaign" against himself. This allegation is rich considering Flanagan's own previous behaviour - as detailed in this blog. However there is little doubt that IF Leo Varadkar is forced to drop Fitzgerald, then Charlie Flanagan will become the next target for political liquidation!

It should be noted that in 2009 the then TD Charlie Flanagan slandered Nora Wall in a speech to Dail Eireann (Irish Parliament). Similarly, prior to becoming Minister for Justice Alan Shatter had thrown his weight behind an allegation that the Catholic Church was implicated in the murder of a 10 year old girl in 1970. AND only a few months ago, both Leo Varadkar and Frances Fitzgerald had placed themselves at the head of the mob that slandered journalist Kevin Myers by describing him as a Anti-Semite and a Misogynist!  

As the old saying goes - Curses are like chickens: they always come home to roost!

The Findings of the O'Higgins Report

A commission of investigation was established in February 2015 to investigate and report on certain matters relative to the Cavan/Monaghan Division of the Garda Síochána (Irish police). Mr Justice Kevin O’Higgins was the Commission’s sole member. The Commission arose from the report of May 2014 from Mr Sean Guerin, SC, to the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) concerning allegations made by Sergeant Maurice McCabe. The then Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald officially published the report on 11 May 2016.

A detailed account of the O'Higgins Report is contained in an article by RTE crime correspondent Paul Reynolds  dated 9 May 2016 headed "Report: McCabe Dedicated But Prone to Exaggeration". In my opinion that is a very charitable description of Sergeant McCabe!

In Brief:

(i) The report cleared the former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan of an allegation of corruption made by Sgt McCabe regarding the alleged placement of a senior officer on a promotion list. The allegation had no foundation
.
(ii) Complaints of corruption made by Sgt McCabe against Assistant Commissioner Derek Byrne, Chief Superintendent Colm Rooney and Superintendent Michael Clancy were all found to be hurtful and unfounded. Sergeant McCabe also made allegations against his immediate superior Inspector Noel Cunningham– later promoted to superintendent. These were also dismissed and categorised as “unjustified criticism".

(iii) Claims of corruption in investigations The report found no evidence of garda criminality or corruption, but found junior gardaí were allowed investigate cases without sufficient supervision from more senior officers.

(iv) The former justice minister Alan Shatter was also completely vindicated in the report. The commission of investigation found that Mr Shatter, who was the subject of an unprecedented, hate-filled campaign, did indeed take Sergeant McCabe's allegations "very seriously" and his actions on the matter were "entirely reasonable and appropriate". (Note: It was actually the publication of the report by Sean Guerin SC in May 2014 that caused the resignation of Alan Shatter - not testimony by Sergeant McCabe.)

MY QUERY:How is it possible for anyone to mistakenly accuse FIVE superior officers - and some colleagues - of corruption?

There is no need for conspiracy theories in relation to this 'scandal', no need to imagine senior Garda management setting up a smear campaign against Sergeant McCabe. Apply 'Ockham's Razor'to the problem; this is the explanatory principle developed by the Franciscan philosopher William of Ockhan several centuries ago i.e. 'among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected'. (Or 'if there are two alternative explanations, the simpler one is most likely to be true'.) 

Sergeant McCabe made himself extremely unpopular with his superiors and his Garda colleagues by falsely accusing them of corruption. Justice O'Higgins assumed that he was mistaken rather than malicious but in practice this makes little difference to the people affected by his false allegations. But why should they - or any other Gardai, or the Minister for Justice - engage in a secret conspiracy to damage Maurice McCabe's reputation when he did it all by himself?

Article by former TD and MEP Gay Mitchell in Irish Independent on 27 November

The article is called "Varadkar has golden opportunity to show leadership mettle and stand up to Sinn Fein"

"To this day I do not know why Alan Shatter, a conscientious and able justice minister was pushed from office. Two Garda commissioners have also departed. We have now lost to premature retirement the secretary general of the Department of Justice. Ms Fitzgerald's "offence" seems to be that she saw an email about which she was required by law to not intervene, even if it had registered with her. She obeyed the law."

Gay Mitchell believes that Sinn Fein want another official decapitated and that Fianna Fail feels obliged to assist for fear of missing out on the publicity. He concludes correctly that "the tail is wagging the dog". However I don't think that this analysis goes deep enough. 

Basically the problem does not lie with Sinn Fein or Fianna Fail or with any politician. The problem is that nobody is questioning the bona fides of Sergeant Maurice McCabe - certainly not the media and consequently not politicians or the public either. It's not a question of citizens thinking - well Sergeant McCabe has made some serious mistakes but in general I support him. People seem to be  unaware of the most basic facts about this fake scandal - because the media have arranged it that way. The public seem to view Maurice McCabe as a lone hero who is fearlessly defying the might of vicious and powerful politicians. The opposite might be closer to the truth!

Kevin Myers and the Age of De Valera and McQuaid

John Charles McQuaid and Eamon De Valera

[The following is based on a discussion on the Politics.ie website entitled "Kevin Myers Kills His Own Career" ]

Now that "the tumult and the shouting dies" (sort of) maybe it's time for a summing up. I am combining a couple of previous posts below. In the two original posts,  I was trying to imagine how future historians will report on this episode - and especially how they will report on the behaviour of our beloved Taoiseach and Tanaiste. [Irish Prime Minister and Deputy PM for you foreigners].

Both the Taoiseach and the Tanaiste have said that the Sunday Times have taken the right action in apologising and dropping Kevin Myers following his controversial column on Sunday [30 July 2017].

During their visit to Waterford on Monday, the two government leaders were asked their opinion on Mr Myers's column.

"I read the article and it is misogynistic and anti-Semitic in my view and I think The Sunday Times has taken the appropriate action," Mr Varadkar said.

The Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald said: "I regret that the article was published, I have to say, in the first place but certainly I think that now the right action has been taken and there’s an onus on everyone, including the media obviously, to make sure that articles like that do not appear."......

Let's suppose that this had happened in the 1950s - that dark and repressive period of our history. The Irish Press publishes an article that some see as critical of the Catholic Church. There is a hysterical outcry that leads to the firing of the journalist and sudden allegations that an article he wrote in the 1940s was ALSO anti-Catholic. Both de Valera and Sean Lemass join in denouncing the journalist and Lemass explicitly states that all such articles should be banned in future.

But in fact the journalist is a practising Catholic, the article is NOT anti-clerical and Archbishop McQuaid has to make a public statement pointing this out!

Can you imagine what our historians- and journalists - would be writing about this episode today?

My Further Comment
The above analogy isn't enough to convey the lunacy and hypocrisy that constitutes "debate" in modern Ireland. The Jewish Representative Council of Ireland has  supported Kevin Myers. If a similar episode had happened in the 1950s, you would have to imagine that even AFTER John Charles declared that the journalist was NOT anti-Catholic, the hysterical loonies went ahead and wrecked the guy's career anyway!

Still Later Comment

I have previously quoted the imbecilic remarks of our beloved Taoiseach and Tanaiste on the necessity of censoring the evil ideas of Kevin Myers. I was somewhat surprised because both are Fine Gael, but former Tanaiste Joan Burton doesn't surprise me at all:

Sunday Times' probe into How Myers Article was Published 

..... Meanwhile, former tánaiste [Deputy PM] Joan Burton has said newspaper editors need to ensure articles which are grossly prejudicial to women should never be published. Ms Burton welcomed Mr Myers's apology, but said steps should be taken to ensure similar pieces are not published in future. "Gross prejudice against women should have no place in modern journalism and it is an editor's responsibility to ensure the kind of prejudice we've seen this week doesn't happen again," she said.....

This is PRECISELY what I would expect of a Labour Party Female Politician,  but the fact that Fine Gael beat her to it is genuinely troubling.

FINAL Comment:
I summed up at one point by writing: "I just re-located the FINAL part of my analogy of the 1950s in which I imagine Leo Varadkar and Frances Fitzgerald as de Valera and Lemass, the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland as John Charles McQuaid and Kevin Myers as a hapless Catholic traditionalist who is being denounced by the mob as an Enemy of the Church. The difference nowadays is that the mob are so out of control that even the Archbishop can't stop them!"

Will any of the foregoing personnel who are still among the living, be pleased with the role I have allocated them in this little parable? Well hopefully not; it's intended as a tribute to the deceased anyway!

Comment July 2018 - But maybe he is a “misogynist??
But is Kevin Myers a “misogynist”?  When Nora Wall was falsely convicted of rape and sentenced to life imprisonment, Kevin Myers was the ONLY journalist to speak out on her behalf.  However according to the Wikipedia article on Nora Wall “The director of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Olive Braiden, welcomed the imposition of a maximum sentence, and said it would ensure that Nora Wall would be monitored for the rest of her life to prevent recurrence.”.......No comment from Ms Braiden after the case against Nora Wall collapsed.

 Being opposed to THAT kind of Feminism does not make anyone a “misogynist”! 

Comment 19 November 2019

RTE Apologises to Journalist Kevin Myers for 'Untrue and Defamatory' Claim he was a 'Holocaust Denier' Irish Independent 19 November 2019

RTE has issued an on-air apology to journalist Kevin Myers as part of an out-of-court settlement reached between himself and the State broadcaster. Mr Myers had launched a defamation suit against RTE after it described him as a 'holocaust denier' during a broadcast on its flagship news and current affairs show 'Morning Ireland' in July, 2017.

As part of the undisclosed settlement, newsreader Bryan Dobson read out the apology just before the 9am news on Morning Ireland today.

He stated: "Morning Ireland introduced an item that suggested that Kevin Myers was a holocaust denier. This was untrue and defamatory of Mr Myer's character. Morning Ireland acknowledges that Mr Myers has, for over three decades, repeatedly testified to the scale and wickedness of Hitler's Final Solution. Morning Ireland acknowledges the damage done to Mr Myer's reputation. We regret this and unreservedly apologise."

A statement from Mr Myer's solicitor Eamonn Denieffe this afternoon said: " On behalf of our client, Mr Kevin Myers, we wish to confirm that a satisfactory settlement has been reached with RTE in relation to a broadcast on 'Morning Ireland' on July 31, 2017. This broadcast resulted in an action for defamation against RTE which has now been settled. This settlement includes a broadcast apology, an acknowledgment of factual errors that resulted in reputational harm to Mr Myers, the payment of damages and his legal costs.”

Mr Myers declined to comment as did RTE.

The settlement follows a ruling by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland in February, 2018 which upheld a complaint from a member of the public that RTE's depiction of Mr Myers as a holocaust denier was "unfair."

 

MY CONCLUSION [December 2020]

In July 2017 journalist Kevin Myers was libelled by our Irish Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, a previous Deputy Prime Minister AND by State Broadcaster RTE. It's a series of events unprecedented in the history of the Irish State, of the EU and probably of any democratic society!

Kevin Myers is the only journalist to have defended former Sister of Mercy Nora Wall in June 1999 when she was falsely convicted of raping a child.*** He is also a strong critic of the Provisional IRA whose political wing Sinn Fein are currently (December 2020) the main opposition party and are likely to come to power after the next Irish General Election. We are a society that is spewing on itself!

*** In contrast, our last EU Commissioner Phil Hogan and last Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan both used Parliamentary Privilege to libel Nora.

 

See also articles Kevin Myers and J.K. Rowling; Kevin Myers, Vanessa Feltz and Anti-Semitism; and  Kevin Myers, Jews and False Allegations of Anti-Semitism

Kevin Myers, Jews and False Allegations of Anti-Semitism

Kevin Myers

Or an alternative title to this article might be

Jews and Circular Firing Squads

The following is from a discussion on the Politics.ie website entitled "Kevin Myers Kills His Own Career"

Jews and Circular Firing Squads  - Conor Cruise O'Brien

The grotesque fiasco cantered around the firing of Kevin Myers by The Sunday Times is a prime example of Jews shooting themselves in the foot and playing into the hands of their enemies - and at this stage I personally am becoming an enemy! There were TWO previous cases where the results  were not so OBVIOUSLY self-defeating for Jews but the rot was still setting in. I am thinking of the late Conor Cruise O'Brien and also Alan Shatter making false claims about the Catholic Church and the murder of children.

The following is from post #261 re Conor Cruise.

This is the late Conor Cruise O'Brien making allegations that children were murdered by the Christian Brothers - a supporter of Israel peddling Blood libel! Similar to the own goal just scored by Witch-hunters sniffing out anti-Semites in the most unlikely places.

Conor Cruise O'Brien, National Archives, Mary Raftery, Blood Libel

...Article in Irish Independent by CC O’Brien on 15 May 1999 “Child Abuse Issue must be Fearlessly Confronted Now”. Conor Cruise compares the treatment of children by the Catholic Church with the treatment of the Jews by the Nazis. “The holocaust took six million lives, mostly over a three year period. The abuse of children took few actual lives, it did take some but it inflicted great suffering on many thousands of children over several centuries.” ....

Conor Cruise specifically promised to follow up on his allegations but never did. He was unpopular with left wing journalists who - in other circumstances - would have been delighted to demand he provide proof or  apologise for his child-killing claims. However they let him away with that one because it suited their agenda just fine!

Jews and Circular Firing Squads  - Alan Shatter and the Murder of Bernadette Connolly

This is post # 871

Originally Posted by Kilbarry1  [Myself]
Agreed. I sometimes buy the Sunday Times and Kevin Myers column is one of the reasons. Generally I go into my local Easons, take a copy into a corner and go through part 1 in particular to see if it's worth spending my €3. I skimmed through Myers article on page 15, generally agreed with it, certainly did not see it as anti-Semitic (and I support Israel) and decided not to purchase this week. Then I saw the politics thread and bought it after all.

This is a lunatic controversy and when the Jewish lobby calm down they will recognise it as a disaster. From my point of view, this is the THIRD time that I have seen this type of lunacy and I am getting sick of it and reconsidering my attitude towards Jews and Israel.

Reply by L'Chaim

Wow! How some group responds to something somebody wrote would lead you to reconsider your attitude towards Jews and Israel. How fickle that attitude must have been in the first place.

My Reply to L'Chaim

The FIRST episode was when the late Conor Cruise O'Brien promoted Blood Libel against the Christian Brothers - he was echoing Mary Raftery .  The SECOND was the following
Gardai Find No Cover-Up in 1970 Murder of Girl

A GARDA review of the investigation into the murder of 10-year-old Bernadette Connolly 40 years ago has found no evidence of a cover-up.

The child was murdered and her body dumped in a bog in Collooney, Co Sligo, in 1970 -- but 40 years on the killing remains unsolved. The latest review was prompted by concerns that detectives had been hampered in their original investigation because the suspects included a priest who is now dead. But the review has now concluded that there was no evidence that the murder investigation was "impeded or inhibited in any way".

The findings were disclosed by Justice Minister Dermot Ahern in response to a parliamentary question from Alan Shatter, the Fine Gael TD who had previously alleged that the original garda file was shown to a senior member of the Catholic Church........

Mr Shatter alleged in the Dail that Bernadette's murder had not been comprehensively investigated and that a copy of the garda file was given to a senior member of the Catholic Church. The family was promised a full and comprehensive review of the case by Assistant Commissioner Kieran Kenny in December of last year.

In his reply to the parliamentary question, Mr Ahern said: "This review has been completed and the review team has found no evidence to support the view that the original investigation was inhibited or impeded in any way. "A comprehensive meeting was held with members of the person's family in September, 2010, during which their concerns surrounding the investigation were addressed."........

And then a few months later Alan Shatter became Minister for Justice himself!

Jews and Circular Firing Squads - Summary

The first two episodes above had no OBVIOUS negative consequences for the accusers. This was curious in one way since neither CC O'Brien nor Alan Shatter were popular with left wing and "liberal" journalists. However the same journalists shared their hatred for the Catholic Church so had no objection to THAT kind of false accusation (i.e. Blood Libel). The problem is that many of the same journalists are as anti-Semitic as they are anti-Catholic so this kind of action by the Jewish lobby was bound to blow up in their faces at some stage. Now it has. Defaming Kevin Myers as an anti-Semite is not only immoral - it is also profoundly stupid!

Kevin Myers, Vanessa Feltz and Anti-Semitism

[Spoiler Alert]. The recently widowed Mrs Cohen wants to put an ad in the paper to announce her husband's death. Since very short ads are free she proposes the text "Maurice Cohen dead". The editor informs her she can get up to 6 words for free so she adds "Volvo for sale".

And Vanessa Feltz - who denounced Kevin Myers for peddling anti-Jewish stereotypes - thinks this is a great joke and indeed helps to tell it!

Extract from discussion on Politics.ie website regarding Kevin Myers Kills His Own Career

Comment by Tommy12345 on 19 August 2017

He most certainly did not plead guilty to being anti-Semitic, which was the substantive charge. He merely (and wrongly, in my view) expressed contrition for having written something foolishly throwaway.

Reply by Niall78 to Tommy12345

An anti-Semitic foolish throwaway.
Or just anti-Semitic without his own spin.

Reply by Tommy12345

No more anti-Semitic than the joke below which Vanessa Feltz herself thought funny, and harmless, enough to help tell:   [See above video]

Reply by Kilbarry1 to Tommy12345

[Spoiler Alert]. The recently widowed Mrs Cohen wants to put an ad in the paper to announce her husband's death. Since very short ads are free she proposes the text "Maurice Cohen dead". The editor informs her she can get up to 6 words for free so she adds "Volvo for sale".

And Vanessa Feltz - who denounced Kevin Myers for peddling anti-Jewish stereotypes - thinks this is a great joke and indeed helps to tell it!

Reply by Tommy12345 toKilbarry1

Yep. What an utter hypocrite she is.

Reply by Deargoul to Tommy12345

I heard that as a Cavan joke (Ford Escort) some twenty five years ago.

She's up to the minute as ever.

Some More Comments about Vanessa Feltz

Originally Posted by DaveM

The common theme from those defending Myers is that they invariably seem to come from viewpoints which seek to justify and validate their own historical prejudices and discrimination against others, be that misogyny, homophobia or anti-Semitism.

Reply by Sister Mercedes 

And the common theme from those attacking him is they're dumb as a bag of hammers.

Vanessa Feltz (who I like) is a vastly overpaid presenter on a local radio station whose ratings have plunged and whose boss is deeply unhappy with. Sensing a pay cut or even a sacking on the imminent horizon, she spots an opportunity to portray herself as an innocent victim and bullet-proof herself from any adjustments to her cosy set-up ... who would dare sack her or cut her pay now. She's played you like a fiddler on the roof. [/quote]

My Reply to Sister Mercedes

Interesting idea. I might just drop my fast developing anti-Semitism and stick with the Misogony!