RTÉ has paid out in excess of €180,000 in damages and costs as a result of comments by solicitor Gerald Kean about garda whistleblowers Sgt Maurice McCabe and John Wilson in 2014.

The Disclosures Tribunal was treated to a splash of celebrity yesterday, but the tidings brought further troubling detail of how An Garda Síochána operated at the highest level.

Former garda commissioner Martin Callinan briefed celebrity solicitor Gerald Kean for almost an hour before a radio appearance in which Mr Kean questioned and criticised whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe.