Recordings are sign of wider ‘cavalier’ culture in the force

Legal experts have warned that gardaí could have breached two major planks of the law by recording phone calls to and from Garda stations.

Dr Eoin O’Dell, law lecturer at Trinity College Dublin, said the recording of calls made by members of the public to their local Garda station without seeking their consent was in breach of data protection legislation.

More seriously, if any of the recorded calls were between solicitors and people in custody, that would breach the rules on legal professional privilege which protect communications between legal practitioners and their clients.