Perceived grievance of McCabe was the ‘spark that lit the fuse’

A senior garda told the Disclosure Tribunal that a perceived grievance of Sergeant Maurice McCabe was the “spark that lit the fuse” in adopting a Garda legal strategy to target the motivation and credibility of Sgt McCabe at the O’Higgins commission in 2015.

Chief Superintendent Fergus Healy said that Garda counsel at the O’Higgins inquiry had recommended challenging Sgt McCabe’s motivation and credibility after forming the view that the “triggering factor” for his complaints about poor policing and corruption stemmed from his unhappiness at not getting the directions of the DPP released in relation to a case involving him.

Counsel for the Disclosure Tribunal Kathleen Leader said the strategy adopted by counsel for then-commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan was that Sgt McCabe had been effectively seeking to “blackmail” senior officers in making his series of complaints.