Air Corps officer dismissed over comments to superior

AN Air Corps officer who pulled a wounded colleague to safety following a shooting was yesterday dismissed from the Defence Forces after a court martial found him guilty of calling a superior officer a “little prick”.

Father-of-two Commandant Niall Donohue, who is attached to the No 5 Support Wing of the Air Corps based at Baldonnel, was last week found guilty of calling his superior officer, Lieutenant Colonel Gerald O’Sullivan, “a little prick” on January 30 of last year.

The remark resulted in charges being brought before a general court martial, the first since 2002. And yesterday Judge Col Tony McCourt said Comdt Donohue was lucky not to receive a one-year jail term for what he called a “disloyal” and “calculated” attack.

The Comdt had served in the Defence Forces for 28 years and had been recommended for promotion on a number of occasions, but the episode in January last year came after he had been diagnosed with work-related stress, for which he was taking medication.

The court heard from five character witnesses for the 47-year-old yesterday, including testimony to his bravery during a fraught security situation in Lebanon in 1987.

Ex-Quartermaster Sergeant Christy Rainbow said in the summer of 1987 he was based in Lebanon and witnessed an altercation between civilians and Irish troops serving for the United Nations at a checkpoint. He heard a shot and said he saw Mr Donohue, then a young Lieutenant, run up to the scene from a nearby football pitch.

“A ricochet hit an Irish soldier,” Sgt Rainbow said. “Niall grabbed him and pulled him to safety.”

Another witness, Capt Mark Caulfield, said Comdt Donohue, who lives in Kildare, had made savings for the Defence Forces of at least €1.5m, thanks to his research into the installation of a modular fuel rig at the army camp in Finner and through his work in securing a fixed contract for fuel.

But Judge McCourt said the fact that Comdt Donohue had 28 years’ service made the offence “all the more reprehensible”.

He said the comments were not ill-considered, bad-tempered or an impromptu response caused by stress at his unsatisfactory rating, but a “gross, calculated insult” and “a clear challenge to [Lt Col O’Sullivan’s] authority”.

“You should consider yourself fortunate not to have been handed a custodial sentence,” he said.

Comdt Donohue looked shaken as he was told of his discharge, and he now has 21 days to appeal.

The judge adjourned for four weeks the issue of 11 other charges against Comdt Donohue for mention on June 29.