Government left feeling the pressure as Callinan heads for the exit

The Government is under intense pressure to explain how details came to light that phone calls in and out of Garda stations were being recorded, after it emerged that the attorney general was informed of the practice last November.

The legal implications of the latest Garda controversy are also expected to be “dynamite”, according to experts, if it transpires that recordings of conversations between solicitors and suspects were taped.

Following a dramatic day of unfolding events, details emerged last night of a letter from Martin Callinan, the now-retired Garda commissioner, outlining that he informed the attorney general of the practice last November.

This is despite the insistence by Justice Minister Alan Shatter that he was only informed about it on Monday and the Taoiseach saying he was first informed by the attorney general on Sunday.

Mr Callinan wrote to the secretary general of the justice department on March 10 about the recordings of phone calls in and out of Garda stations.

Mr Callinan resigned unexpectedly yesterday morning after being informed on Monday night of the serious concerns in Government over the issue of phone recordings.

A spokesperson for Mr Shatter said he only became aware of the practice on Monday night and only became aware of the letter to his department yesterday morning. The spokes-person also said Mr Shatter did not see a report published by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission in June 2013 which highlighted this practice and recommended that it be brought to an end.

The issue will be the subject of a Dáil debate this morning, which will be followed by a debate on the Garda Inspectorate report into the cancellation of penalty points.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said last night Mr Shatter “must have known” about the practice and that he was pulling the wool over the public’s eyes.

Meanwhile, the head of the School of Law at Kent University, Dermot Walsh, said the Government’s establishment of a statutory Commission of Investigation suggests conversations may have been recorded between solicitors and suspects in custody — which could have consequences for current and past cases.

“The implications of this are dynamite,” said Prof Walsh.

“The implication from the statement is that confidential communication between solicitors and clients on the phone was being recorded. That is unlawful. We don’t know for sure this did happen, but it would drive a coach and horses through the concept of solicitor-client confidentiality and right to a fair trial.”

He said if this was happening, he could see a defendant in a prosecution arguing that the State “acted unlawfully and unconstitutionally” and that any evidence sustained as a result would be excluded.

Ken Murphy, director general of the Law Society, said he was “shocked”, and that conversations between solicitors and clients in custody were protected by law. He said that if information from these conversations was used in convictions, there were “very serious questions” as to whether those convictions were safe.

In a statement at 2.40pm yesterday, the Government said a “very serious issue” had arisen with implications “potentially of such gravity” that necessitated a statutory commission of investigation.

It said that, in the context of “ongoing legal proceedings in a particular case”, the Government had learned of a system in place “in a large number of Garda stations whereby incoming and outgoing calls were taped and recorded”.

It said the practice was in place for “many years”, thought to be decades, and stopped only last November.

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties said: “The recording of calls to and from Garda stations may have grave ramifications for the administration of justice and this is the day when the rot must stop.”