Backbench TDs cast doubt on Callinan’s position

Fine Gael backbenchers have cast doubt over the position of the Garda commissioner after calls by senior ministers for him to apologise over remarks he made about whistleblowers.

Coalition party TDs last night stood firmly behind Justice Minister Alan Shatter but some privately questioned Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan’s position and even suggested he should go.

The comments come after calls from senior Cabinet ministers in recent days for Mr Callinan to withdraw his public suggestion that the acts of two Garda whistleblowers were “disgusting”.