Defence Forces officer denies abuse allegations at tribunal hearing

Officer known as 2LTB tells tribunal he never mistreated recruits but admits he was ill-equipped for training role. FIle picture

A Defence Forces officer accused of ordering a recruit soldier to eat cigarette butts has, for the first time, publicly denied those claims and all other allegations that he mistreated recruits.

At a packed hearing of the Defence Forces Tribunal, the officer, known only as 2LTB, was asked to address the allegations against him.

They include allegedly getting recruits to dance with each other and sing nursery rhymes — including Silent Night — after a day of firing range training on June 20, 1991.

One recruit, Oliver Muillaney, is alleged to have been repeatedly humiliated by the officer — who cannot be named for legal reasons — and to have been ordered to dance on a chair before kissing other male recruits.

The tribunal has heard that the 19-year-old was so upset by the way he was treated that he took his own life two days later while on armed sentry duty at Devoy Barracks.

The officer, after a momentary pause, addressed the tribunal and said: “I respect the right of all persons to come to the tribunal. Persons have come with allegations of abuse. 

“I don’t doubt their sincerity. I would regret any feelings they have.

“I do have to deny I mistreated any member of the 34th platoon or any other apprentice.” 

He added: “Many allegations have been made that I only heard for the first time this year.” 

Earlier, under direct examination by tribunal senior counsel Michael Cush, 2LTB admitted he was ill-equipped for the role he played in training recruits at the Army Apprentice School in Devoy Barracks in Naas.

Mr Cush reminded ​t​he officer 2LTB that he, in a statement he had made to the tribunal, had said his own training didn’t equip him for his role as a platoon commander in the Army Apprentice School.

Asked whether his training had properly prepared him for his leadership and training role at the school, which he began when he was 20 years old, he replied: "Not at all."

He added: “I didn’t have the requisite training, and there was no induction course and there was no onsite training.”

The tribunal heard he joined the Defence Forces in December 1987, aged 18, and served for 36 years before retiring with the rank of colonel.

The Defence Forces Tribunal was established in June 2024 by then tánaiste and defence minister Micheál Martin following the publication of a report reviewing allegations of brutal and "sadistic" abuse.

Those allegations, contained in a March 2023 report, included the rape of male and female soldiers.

Those who alleged they were abused include the Women of Honour, a group of serving and former Defence Forces members whose allegations featured in an RTÉ documentary in 2021, prompting the review.

The hearing continues.