McDowell ‘must back up bribery remark’

By Cormac O’KeeffeBR>GARDAÍ yesterday demanded that Justice Minister Michael McDowell either withdraw or back up with evidence comments that garda were being bribed by journalists.

The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) called on Mr McDowell to back up his statement with evidence or withdraw it altogether.

"The Minister has quoted one newspaper columnist's statement that some gardaí are being bribed by some journalists as a supporting argument for some of his proposals for the new Garda Síochána Bill," said AGSI president, Joe Dirwan.

"He appears to be accepting the columnist's claim as fact. We now have the situation where the entire force has been tarnished by the Minister as corrupt on the basis of a newspaper article.

"We are surprised and disappointed that someone with the legal background of the Minister should act in this way," he added.

Mr Dirwan said members of the AGSI had been outraged and offended by the Minister's comments.

He was responding to reports in the media yesterday in which Mr McDowell criticised some journalists who believed they had a "God-given right" to bribe gardaí to leak information.

The Minister said that one columnist - Diarmuid Doyle in The Sunday Tribune - had recently said he could name at least five reporters who regularly paid gardaí for information.

Commenting, Mr McDowell said: "I'm not prepared to accept that, under any circumstances whatsoever.

"The notion that individual members of the journalists' profession feel that it is their God-given right to bribe gardaí to break the criminal law and to give them information which they are prohibited from giving them is, in my view, wholly unacceptable."

He added: "A professional police force does not tolerate within its ranks people who sell stories to journalists."

Mr Dirwan said the Minister had made very serious allegations of corruption and bribery.

"The correct way forward now is for the Minister to order a full investigation to ascertain if these allegations are true or not," he said.

"If they are proven to be true, then the Minister can stand over them and action under our legal and disciplinary codes can be taken."

But he added: "If they are proven to be false - of if there is no other evidence available than the unsubstantiated word of one journalist - then the Minister should unreservedly withdraw the remarks."

A spokesman for the Department of Justice said the Minister declined to comment directly on the AGSI statement.

But he added: "The Minister has always said regarding this Bill that he and his officials are always available to talk to the garda staff associations regarding any concerns they have and that he would listen."

The spokesman said the Minister did not state he thought the claims made by the columnist were true or fact, but was just responding to questions from journalists regarding the scope of the Garda Bill.

Labour party spokesman Joe Costello said if the Minister had specific information of bribery or payment by journalists to gardaí to come forward with it.