Gilmore: Judge wrong to criticise politicians

THE chairman of the Morris tribunal was wrong to disparage the conduct of two politicians, Labour leader Eamon Gilmore has said in an unusually blunt attack on a judge.

Party leaders normally hesitate to criticise judges or State inquiries for fear of undermining the judiciary in the eyes of the public.

But Mr Gilmore said he was deeply concerned about some of the findings in Mr Justice Frederick Morris’s final report, adding that the judge appeared to have “little understanding” of aspects of the Dáil.

In the report, published yesterday, Mr Justice Morris criticised Fine Gael’s Jim Higgins and Labour’s Brendan Howlin for the manner in which they had handled unverified allegations against senior gardaí.

The politicians were informed of the allegations in June 2000, when they were both TDs, and took the information to the then Justice Minister.

Mr Justice Morris said the politicians should first have returned to their sources and pressed them for evidence to support the allegations, given their serious nature.

Both Mr Higgins [now an MEP] and Mr Howlin immediately rejected the criticism, saying their decision to jointly approach the Justice Minister was the most appropriate course of action. Mr Gilmore came out in support of his Labour colleague and Mr Higgins yesterday.

“The suggestion made by Mr Justice Morris that the two deputies should have investigated the allegations further before taking any action is simply unrealistic and suggests that the judge has little understanding of the role played by, or the powers or resources available to, Dáil deputies,” he said.

If the judge’s logic were to be followed through, a politician informed of child abuse allegations would first have to investigate them by him or herself, he said.

Mr Gilmore said the two politicians could easily have used Dáil privilege to air the allegations, free from any threat of legal action.

Instead, they went in confidence to the Justice Minister, an “appropriate, prudent and responsible” move.

“I would have taken exactly the same course of action myself,” he added.

He expressed concern about the judge’s suggestion that an Oireachtas committee should now review the manner in which TDs deal with whistleblowers.

It would be wrong to place restrictions on the responsible use by politicians of information from whistleblowers, he said.