Stepaside decision ‘a political stroke’

A leading member of the cross-party Dáil public accounts committee has warned Government there is nothing in the now published Stepaside garda station re-opening report that changes her view what happened was a “political stroke”.

Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald made the claim as PAC colleagues confirmed the committee is considering hauling Department of Justice officials before it for questioning over why the report’s publication was repeatedly delayed.

Amid a growing political stand-off last week, the Department of Justice finally released the interim report into the re-opening of garda stations on Saturday.