Garda told disciplinary action withdrawn just hours before marriage

It was the best wedding present Garda Fiona Sheehan could have received.

Just hours before she was married, the Garda watchdog decided to withdraw disciplinary action against Garda Sheehan, who was previously cleared of any wrongdoing when using pepper spray to subdue a violent youth.

Even after a district court found that Garda Sheehan and her colleague, Brendan Dowling, had acted in a totally professional manner and with extraordinary restraint, the Garda Siochána Ombudsman Commission decided it would initiate disciplinary proceedings against the two gardaí in connection with the incident.

The GSOC decision caused uproar, especially among rank-and-file members of the force.

However, just before Garda Sheehan, 27, was married in Glounthaune, Co Cork, last weekend, she was told that no further action would be taken against her and her colleague.

She has since left the country on honeymoon, but friends of the Cork City-based garda said she had been stressed out by the unwarranted court case and by the decision of GSOC to pursue disciplinary proceedings.

“She had the case, which should never have gone to court in the first place, hanging over her for 18 months,” a close friend said. “She couldn’t sleep at times because the stress and anguish was so much. It’s great this is now behind her. GSOC should now make a public apology to her and her colleague.”

Garda Representative Association central executive committee member Garda Michael Corcoran said he was delighted for his colleagues.

“I believe that the proposed investigation under Section 95 Garda Siochána Act was not in accordance with the law, as it represented a ‘double jeopardy’ situation for the two gardaí,” said Garda Corcoran. “To any independent observer, these cannot be seen as the actions of a statutory body which has ‘impartiality’ emblazoned on its masthead.

“Fiona Sheehan got married last weekend. This should have been one of the happiest periods of her young life. Instead, due to the actions of the GSOC, she has was sick with worry. Was it a coincidence that GSOC waited until the eve of her wedding to decide to drop their investigation?”