Shatter: ‘I haven’t spoken to Kenny since June’

By Sean O'Riordan, Irish Examiner

Former justice minister Alan Shatter has maintained he wasn’t shafted by Enda Kenny, but admitted he hasn’t spoken to the Taoiseach since last June.

The 63-year-old

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The 350-page independent review of allegations of wrongdoing and malpractice in the force found inadequate investigation and analysis of the issues raised by serving Sergeant Maurice McCabe.

At the time Mr Shatter said he was anxious the fallout from it wouldn’t distract from the important work of the Government or create any difficulties for the Fine Gael or Labour parties in the lead up to the European and Local Elections.

Speaking on the Late Late Show tonight, he said on the morning of May 7 Enda Kenny handed him the Guerin report and told him that how he dealt with it could impact on the government.

“In my analysis it was untenable that I continue as minister” Mr Shatter said, adding that he believed whatever he said nobody would listen to him.

He said it was “obviously disappointing” the way events developed and he wrote a letter of resignation to Enda Kenny which the Taoiseach read out a short time later in the Dáil.

He admitted having to resign “wasn’t a pleasant experience” as he had hoped to have continued introducing more reforming legislation.

Mr Shatter described the Taoiseach as “an extraordinary politician” but added that he hadn’t spoken to him since last June, even though he remains a Fine Gael TD for Dublin South, where he was first elected in 1981.

Speaking on the Garda whistleblower issue Mr Shatter said he had taken a balanced approach on the allegations and he had taken them “seriously.”

He said there had been a media frenzy surrounding allegations that the Garda Siochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) had been bugged.

He added he had told the Dáil the truth that there was no evidence that the gardaí had any part in bugging GSOC headquarters, or that anybody else had done so.

Shatter refused to answer questions on any role former Brian Purcell, a former top civil servant, might have had in the

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Mr Purcell

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