Senior gangland garda given role in Disclosure Tribunal

Det Supt Tony Howard, key figure in fight against Kinahan cartel, to run response to Disclosure Tribunal

Questions have been raised over the Garda commissioner’s decision to appoint one of her most senior gangland officers to co-ordinate the Garda Síochána’s response to the Disclosure Tribunal.

Detective Supt Tony Howard, a lead officer of the Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (DOCB), is at the forefront of the organisation’s fight against gangland crime, including the Kinahan cartel.

The highly respected officer is also tasked with co-ordinating the Garda’s role in the State’s National Drugs Strategy, which is currently being drafted.

The DOCB has driven operations against the cartel, responsible for an estimated 10 murders in its feud with the Hutch group. The bureau has played a major role in preventing an estimated 18 attempted homicides, most of them linked to the feud.

It has also been behind the seizure of massive quantities of drugs and firearms from the cartel and the arrest of many of its associates.

“Tony was put out there as the front man fighting the Kinahans and now he’s pulled into this,” said one garda source.

“This is not a criminal investigation, this is a tribunal of inquiry. It’s about locating files, administrative stuff. He has a lot more responsible things to be doing.

“There is a whole legal and governance section in Garda headquarters. They should be doing this. Usually, an assistant commissioner or at the least a chief superintendent would be the liaison person.”

A second source said: “Tony is a busy man and has a lot on his plate and I’d say he’d prefer not to be doing this. Given his job and the huge amount of work this tribunal is going to take, you’d have to wonder about the decision.”

However, a senior source disagreed: “Yes, he already has 10 things to do, so this is number 11. But we have assistant commissioners double or even triple-jobbing. At the end of the day, the needs of the organisation come first and he has been selected to help with what is a huge operation in supplying the tribunal with documentation.”

Another senior source also disagreed: “There are two other detective superintendents there, so will this impact operationally? Absolutely not, 100%.”

Questions may also be raised about the optics of the selection, given that Det Supt Howard’s immediate boss is Chief Supt Jim McGowan, the husband of the commissioner, Nóirín O’Sullivan.

“Why Tony? That’s the question,” said a source. “It looks bad and unfair to Tony. Unfortunately for him, he’s stuck between a rock and a hard place.”

However, a senior source disagreed: “Yeah, people could be commenting on that, but he’s been selected because of his experience in running an incident room, which this is going to be like, not because of who his boss is.

“Tony is his own man and he is no fool. He has his own career to think of and would not do anything to jeopardise that.”

It is understood that Det Supt Howard will supervise the team being set up within Garda HQ to conduct the job of identifying, locating, gathering, assembling, and supplying all documentation of relevance to the tribunal.