Cowen still waiting for Garda Commissioner response to Gsoc report on U-turn claim

The report found the Fianna Fáil TD did not attempt to evade a Garda checkpoint

Fianna Fáil TD Barry Cowen: 'I still await Drew Harris’s response' to the Gsoc report.

Fianna Fáil TD Barry Cowen has said he is still waiting for a response from the Garda Commissioner three years after a Gsoc report found he did not attempt to evade a Garda checkpoint.

The Garda Ombudsman report was instigated after Mr Cowen denied claims he had performed a U-turn at a Garda checkpoint in 2016 and the circulation of information about the incident.

It is understood the report by the Garda Ombudsman has recommended that the garda involved in disclosing information from the Garda Pulse system about Mr Cowen should face disciplinary action.

It is also understood the report outlines that Mr Cowen did not attempt to evade the Garda checkpoint or that he performed a U-turn.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has had the report for a number of months now with Mr Cowen saying he has yet to hear what will happen about the recommendations in the report.

“A report and recommendations has been forwarded to the Garda Commissioner for consideration following completion of a Gsoc investigation and I still await Drew Harris’s response,” Mr Cowen told the Irish Examiner.

When contacted almost one month ago with a number of queries on the progress on the report, a Garda spokesperson said they were not in a position to provide a time frame on when a response would be issued to the Irish Examiner.

Sacked as agriculture minister

Mr Cowen was sacked as agriculture minister in July 2020 after then taoiseach Micheál Martin wanted him to make a second public statement in the Dáil over claims he performed a U-turn before a Garda checkpoint in 2016.

Mr Cowen had made a statement in the Dáil and said he made a “stupid, stupid mistake” for his drink-driving offence which occurred in 2016.

He was stopped at a checkpoint and breathalysed on his way home to Co Offaly from Dublin after the All-Ireland football final that year.

Mr Cowen served a three-month disqualification from driving at the time.

He strenuously denied claims that he attempted to evade a Garda checkpoint at the time and said he has sought a copy of this “incorrect record” and has taken steps under the Data Protection Act to have it corrected.

Mr Cowen at the time of his sacking said he had sought an explanation from An Garda Síochána as a citizen as to how details relating to the incident were leaked to the media.