Callinan will not withdraw comment on whistleblowers

Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan has refused to withdraw his branding of the actions of whistleblowers as “disgusting”, despite being called on to do so by a leading Cabinet minister.

Transport Minister Leo Varadkar criticised the commissioner’s handling of the damaging affair as the fallout from it continued to spread.

Mr Varadkar praised Sgt Maurice McCabe and John Wilson for shining “a light into a dark place” which “forced those who would rather turn a blind eye than face up to the truth”.

Mr Varadkar heaped gratitude on the whistleblowers, saying their crusade was“distinguished” rather than disgusting.

However, when asked if Mr Callinan would withdraw the “disgusting” comment, the Garda press office would only state that he had “clarified” the term last week, saying it was not used in reference to the character of the two men, but “the manner in which personal and sensitive data was inappropriately appearing in the public domain without regard to due process and fair procedures”.

Mr Callinan’s description of events is firmly at odds with Mr Varadkar’s after the minister insisted the whistleblowers had acted correctly at every stage of their battle.

Mr Varadkar’s highly unusual public rebuke of Mr Callinan came as pressure mounted on Justice Minister Alan Shatter to apologise to the men who exposed the penalty points scandal.

By insisting the two men used proper means to bring the issue to the light, Mr Varadkar also opened up a Cabinet rift with the justice minister, who has been highly critical of the whistleblowers’ behaviour.

Sources close to Sgt McCabe said he was delighted that somebody at the Cabinet table has acknowledged the contribution he and Mr Wilson had made. He also pointed out that Mr Varadkar’s position was totally in line with the inspectorate report. Mr Wilson said he was “very pleased” with Mr Varadkar’s remarks.

It was revealed Mr Wilson is being treated for bowel cancer and underwent surgery earlier this week.

Following the damning Garda Inspectorate probe which found widespread abuse of the penalty points system, Mr Shatter was criticised for defending Sgt McCabe’s ban from the Pulse computer system because he was “liberally accessing confidential information on the Pulse system and distributing it to the general public”.

While Mr Varadkar said he still has confidence in Mr Callinan, he said the commissioner “isn’t above criticism” and should withdraw the “disgusting” comment.

Mr Varadkar strongly defended the two men, saying: “The Garda whistleblowers only released this information after they tried and failed to have their concerns addressed through official channels and proper means.

“They released the information in an effort to expose bad practice and protect the public and this was done through contact with members of the Oireachtas, which is expressly provided for in the Garda Act of 2005,” he said at a road safety conference.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny refused to be drawn on this latest call for the Garda commissioner to withdraw his remarks.