Ahern refuses to explain dropped case

THE Justice Minister has declined to explain why the state dropped a case against a presumed Garda informant caught in possession of €1.7 million worth of cocaine and heroin.

Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said he had received an interim report from the Garda Ombudsman’s office into the case of Kieran Boylan, but two inquiries were still ongoing and he would not comment under those circumstances. Last July, the Director of Public Prosecutions informed the courts it would not pursue charges against Kieran Boylan, then aged 37, from Ardee, Co Louth, who was found in possession of the drugs while on bail.

In the Dáil yesterday, Fine Gael spokesman on justice Charlie Flanagan said the Dáil needed to know when the Ombudsman would complete a report on the Boylan case.

“It has been alleged that Mr Boylan, a drug trafficker, had a relationship with the gardaí that facilitated collusion and resulted in Boylan being shielded from drugs charges by a small group of gardaí in this city.

“It is alleged that while working with the garda, Mr Boylan was trafficking drugs into this jurisdiction with the knowledge of certain members of the gardaí who appear to have turned a blind eye and did all in their power to keep him out of prison,” said Mr Flanagan.

Labour Party justice spokesman Pat Rabbitte said the public deserved an explanation. “The only reasonable inference is that Boylan was saved from prison by the intervention of corrupt gardaí or that he was protected because he is a Garda informant,” he said.

Mr Ahern said he would not comment, but that internal inquiries which were underway within the Garda Síochána and the Garda Ombudsman’s office.

The Boylan case was raised during a motion to confirm Dermot Gallagher as the new chairman of the Garda Ombudsman’s office.

Both Labour and Fine Gael had criticised the lack of discussion on his appointment.

Mr Flanagan said the manner in which the Government had handled it had lumped a “distinguished civil servant” with the rest of the Fianna Fáil “cronies”. Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said if the Government acted in this way again he would object to the nomination on principle.

Mr Gallagher was praised for his career with the Department of Foreign Affairs.

He has asked for his salary to be e153,000 less than that which was due to be paid for this position.