The Mick Clifford Podcast: Retired army officer on effects of criminal investigation

Alan Kearney is this week’s guest on 'The Mick Clifford Podcast'.

The outcome of a criminal investigation into a high-ranking officer in the Defence Forces was pre-determined, according to documents seen by the Irish Examiner. 

Alan Kearney was a captain in the Irish Defence Forces in 2021, due to be promoted to commandant, when he was removed from his duties and investigated for suspected criminal offences. 

He was ultimately cleared after a failure to present any evidence against him, but the process took over three years and exercised a major toll on him and his family.

The basis for the investigation was WhatsApp messages between Capt Kearney and a former colleague of his who had left to join An Garda Síochána. This man made protected disclosures about alleged malpractice in An Garda Síochána and was subsequently investigated. 

The gardaí passed the messages on to the Defence Forces. The messages referenced a project Capt Kearney had undertaken to preserve military equipment for a museum, but connotations were put on the words used.

The evidence against him, as it was, consisted of “one sentence of a three sentence message in relation to the retention of items for historical purposes,” Capt Kearney told The Mick Clifford Podcast.

Prosecution within the Defence Forces involves an investigation to determine whether there be advances to court martial.

Yet the Irish Examiner has seen an email concerned with garda clearance for Capt Kearney dating from October 6, 2021. 

“Charges are being drafted to be put to Alan Kearney following which the matter will be put before a court martial that will take several months.” 

The investigation into Capt Kearney was ongoing at the time the email was sent. Charges would not be presented to him until the following February. And the possibility of a court martial would not be determined beyond that, only if a summary hearing determined that it was merited.

“The gardaí had been informed by the army before I was ever charged that I was going to be court-martialled and that is a process. It’s not a given that it will happen,” Capt Kearney said.

“That type of thing, one wonders if the army have given assurances (to the gardaí) here. The army is results-driven, it’s mission-focused,” he says.

Following the dropping of all charges against him, Capt Kearney was finally promoted on a recommendation from the Ombudsman of the Defence Forces, Alan Mahon. Capt Kearney retired from the Defence Forces last July. 

A spokesperson for the ombudsman’s office wouldn’t comment on the case, but it is understood the office is investigating how and why charges were brought against and the process that was followed.

Alan Kearney is this week’s guest on The Mick Clifford Podcast.