Gilmore demands answers on Callinan’s exit

The public is entitled to know the full facts surrounding the resignation of the Garda Commissioner last month, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has said.

In a strong signal that he believes his Fine Gael partners in Government still have questions to answer, he said the retirement is “a matter of great consequence” and it is “clearly in the public interest the matter be teased out in full”.

The Labour Party leader told the Dáil it is important that “all those concerned be given the opportunity to account in person for their actions” to a commission of inquiry into issues involving the gardaí, being chaired by Justice Nial Fennelly.

Mr Gilmore said: “The commissioner of the gardaí holds one of the most important positions in our democratic state. The public is entitled to know why he left office earlier than he originally planned, and the public is entitled to the full facts.”

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has been accused of effectively sacking the Garda Commissioner, Martin Callinan, after sending the secretary general of the Department of Justice, Brian Purcell, to his home the night before his unexpected retirement on March 25.

Mr Kenny and the Justice Minister, Alan Shatter, have left a number of questions about events leading up to his retirement unanswered.

Mr Gilmore said last night that he accepts the accounts given by members of the Government who “are party to these events” surrounding the commissioner’s resignation. However, he said: “I fully expect when he has heard from all the parties, Mr Justice Fennelly will be able to set out the sequence of events in full so that the public can make their own judgment.”

The Dáil last night approved the terms of reference for the inquiry, after rejecting an amendment by Fianna Fáil’s Niall Collins that would require the commission to report on a modular basis to allow political issues be dealt with first.

“It is unacceptable the public would have to wait to find out why the garda commissioner resigned or retired or was sacked prematurely,” Mr Collins said.

Sinn Féin justice spokesman Padraig Mac Lochlainn said these issues “should have been front loaded, and should have been dealt with as much as possible in public session”.

He told the Taoiseach: “You have chosen to kick it to touch, and that fundamentally undermines the overall terms of reference.”