Fennelly Fallout: Calls for tougher laws after personal papers of Callinan shredded

The shredding of “personal papers” belonging to former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan has led to calls for more robust laws on the retention of documents.

The Fennelly Report highlighted how Mr Callinan had cleared out all personal papers after he announced his retirement on March 25 last year.

Eight to 10 refuse bags were filled with what Mr Callinan described as “personal papers gathered over the years”. The contents of the bags were shredded on April 4. He was able to produce his diary for the year 2014, but regarding the commissioner’s diary for the previous year, the report states: “It must be presumed that the diary for 2013 was included in the bags of personal papers that were shredded following Mr Callinan’s departure.”