Garda auditor ‘duped’ on Templemore

The head of internal audit in the Garda Síochána has said he was “duped” into setting aside his inquiries into financial irregularities at the Garda College by reassurances from senior management that matters were being addressed.

Niall Kelly told the Public Accounts Committee that, with hindsight, he should not have accepted the reassurances. “I think there was a different culture at that stage. I think there was a culture of circling the wagons and I got caught trying to bang into the wagons,” he said.

Mr Kelly expressed concern about issues at the Garda College in Templemore in 2008 and 2009 and informed the then commissioner, Martin Callinan, but only returned to them in 2015 after a change in management.