Public will have to wait until next year for answers on Garda chief’s resignation

The public will have to wait until next year to find out about the circumstances leading to the resignation of former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan, and the role of Taoiseach Enda Kenny, who dispatched a senior official to his home the night before he stepped down.

Former Supreme Court Judge Nial Fennelly has asked for an extension of the deadline to complete his inquiry into this and the wider issue of recording of phone calls at Garda stations. He was due to report by the end of this year.

He has written to the Taoiseach suggesting that he publish an interim report, which would outline a timeframe for the conclusion of his overall work and contain details of the module relating to the resignation of Mr Callinan.

Mr Kenny told the Dáil yesterday that this was “a matter entirely for the commission and their discretion”, adding: “I do not have authority to direct the commission to carry out its work because it is completely independent.”

A Government spokesperson said there was no timeline for the completion of the overall report. He suggested the interim report would most likely be published early next year.

The inquiry was set up to examine the issue of phone bugging at Garda stations, but its scope was widened following pressure from the Oireachtas Justice Committee to include the issue of Mr Callinan’s resignation.

Mr Kenny made a written submission to the inquiry in July. He has consistently rejected accusations that he sacked Mr Callinan. He has refused to say whether any records or notes exist relating to his decision to dispatch Brian Purcell, then secretary general of the Department of Justice, to Mr Callinan’s home on March 24.

The Opposition has accused Mr Kenny of using Mr Callinan as a “scapegoat” for a series of controversies that were engulfing then justice minister Alan Shatter, relating to the treatment of Garda whistleblowers.

A senior Garda has said Mr Callinan had been made a “scapegoat for other people”, referring to the need for a head to roll over a series of scandals, including the treatment of a Garda whistleblower.