Former justice minister Frances Fitzgerald received a hard copy of an email which detailed the legal strategy being taken by An Garda Síochána against whistleblower Sgt Maurice McCabe, the Disclosures Tribunal has heard.

The Disclosures Tribunal, it would appear, may have been established because of a clerical error.

The lead counsel in the Garda legal strategy challenging the credibility and motivation of Sgt Maurice McCabe at the O’Higgins inquiry in 2015 said he had been “left in no doubt” that information given to his legal team by senior gardaí grounding that strategy was accurate, when a key part of it was “wrong”.

Former commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan may be hauled back to the Disclosure Tribunal to answer questions about an unseen Garda document which described Sergeant Maurice McCabe as paranoid.

There was another apology for Maurice McCabe yesterday for another misunderstanding, another error which cast him in a nefarious light.

Nóirín O’Sullivan was out through the gap yesterday afternoon, her three days of evidence at the Disclosures Tribunal completed, writes Michael Clifford.

Garda counsel were on “red alert” after they read the seriousness of the allegations being levelled by Sergeant Maurice McCabe against senior officers.

Sergeant Maurice McCabe indicated to his bosses that he felt under “threat” from Nóirín O’Sullivan after her legal team told the O’Higgins inquiry that they were challenging his motivation in making complaints about corruption and malpractice.

Former commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan said she “never, ever” considered Sergeant Maurice McCabe to be malicious and said she had no reason to “challenge or impugn his integrity”.

A senior garda told the Disclosure Tribunal that a perceived grievance of Sergeant Maurice McCabe was the “spark that lit the fuse” in adopting a Garda legal strategy to target the motivation and credibility of Sgt McCabe at the O’Higgins commission in 2015.

Did the commissioner of An Garda Síochána wrongly attempt to discredit a Garda whistleblower behind the closed doors of a statutory inquiry?

The Disclosures Tribunal is examining attempts to cast aspersions on Sgt McCabe’s motives, writes Michael Clifford

In early 2015, Garda commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan was doing her best for the turbulent cop who had blown the whistle on malpractice in the force.

Was there an attempt to smear Sgt Maurice McCabe behind the closed doors of a statutory inquiry? That matter forms the basis of the current module of the Disclosures Tribunal at Dublin Castle.

If the Disclosures Tribunal continues as it has begun the new year, it will be drama all the way, writes Michael Clifford.

In July 2015, the following was the official line to be conveyed to the media by the minister for justice about the status of Sgt Maurice McCabe.

Micheál Martin was born under a lucky star. It’s called Fine Gael. He inherited a once-great political edifice in ruins and his own reputation in tatters. Nothing survived the deluge, writes Gerard Howlin.

The drip-feed of information over the O’Higgins Tribunal and the Disclosures Tribunal had only one possible outcome, writes Special Correspondent Michael Clifford

Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald faces mounting pressure from her Fine Gael ministerial colleagues after fresh information around her knowledge of the Maurice McCabe scandal emerged.

Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald could spare the country an unnecessary general election if she resigned, Fianna Fáil said yesterday.

Frances Fitzgerald’s 2015 dilemma must be seen in context of the forces of the State lined up against McCabe, but should she have questioned why he was targeted, asks Michael Clifford

Everybody is rushing to stand at McCabe’s shoulder. There is no risk now, writes Michael Clifford

Tánaiste humiliated as Taoiseach vents frustration having misled Dáil twice on whistleblower email saga

What’s the big deal? Is it all about chasing a political head?

It does not look good for Frances Fitzgerald.

Students of European political history might be familiar with the infamous l’affaire Dreyfus, otherwise known as the Dreyfus affair.

Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald has claimed she forgot about an email revealing a legal strategy to discredit Maurice McCabe because she was told she didn’t need to act on it.

Dáil chairman, Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghail, is “considering” a fresh complaint from Labour TD Alan Kelly over information he sought over the treatment of Garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe.

Since he first approached the body politic bearing his uncomfortable truths, Maurice McCabe has been a thorn in the side of successive governments, writes Michael Clifford

IT is, sadly, easy to argue that An Garda Síochána cannot withstand another scandal; the force’s credibility is shot.

Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald has refused to say if she was aware of a plan to attack the character of Garda whistle-blower Maurice McCabe when she was minister for justice.

Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald has refused to say if she was aware of a plan to attack the character of Garda whistle-blower Maurice McCabe when she was minister for justice.

Just how much did the Department of Justice and the minister of the day know about attempts to silence a whistleblower, asks Special Correspondent Michael Clifford

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan has been asked to explain “disgraceful” answers to Labour’s Alan Kelly over the treatment of Garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe.

If the business of the Charleton tribunal was proposed for a movie script, it would be rejected as beyond belief. Too many coincidences, too many mistakes. Too much that requires the suspension of belief, writes Michael Clifford.

Cultural malaise within the gardaí can be tackled, writes Michael Clifford, even though it is getting harder and harder to believe any information the force provides.

Enda Kenny is coming under pressure to apologise for wrongly sacking his former minister Alan Shatter, who has made fresh claims that the Taoiseach has a “casual relationship with the truth”.

The question of whether journalistic privilege exists and if it can be used as a reason for not giving evidence has been raised by Mr Justice Peter Charleton.

A second garda’s allegations against senior members of the force and state agencies will be included in the tribunal into the alleged smear campaign against Garda whistleblowers.

The Government is facing the threat of collapse as the Independent Alliance says it is “dismayed” at contradictory versions of events in the Maurice McCabe crisis.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny, no less, has broached the possibility of a criminal investigation resulting from the report of the Charleton commission.

The events of recent days have thrown into sharp relief an earlier alleged attempt to smear Sgt Maurice McCabe at the O’Higgins commisison.

Unless everything is a ball of smoke, then it’s not just the upper echelons of An Garda Síochána that will be damaged by Judge Charleton’s inquiry, writes Michael Clifford