Whistleblower crisis: Kenny and Coalition are damaged

Even if Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan does withdraw, as widely expected, his scandalous description of two garda whistleblowers as “disgusting”, it will be too late to salvage the Government’s inept handling of this long-running crisis.

There is no denying that Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s reputation as a strong political leader has been seriously damaged by a controversy which dragged on interminably because he refused to listen. Instead of heeding warnings about abuse of the penalty points system by members of the force, he blindly followed the arguments of Justice Minister Alan Shatter and Mr Callinan, whose combined assurances that all was well are now discredited. Having painted himself into a corner, the Taoiseach’s desperate bid to keep an issue of such public interest under wraps was the latest in a string of political blunders. And having been badly advised, Mr Kenny is out of touch with public opinion.

There is an urgent need to restore confidence in a Garda force undermined by the continuous drip-drip of damaging information. Regrettably, the Government was profoundly deaf to persistent claims by the whistleblowers who were vindicated by a damning Garda Inspectorate report which exposed even more widespread abuse and breaches of the system than Sergeant Maurice McCabe and retired garda John Wilson ever suspected. Instead of getting the hearing they deserved, the courageous gardaí were traduced, their reputations systematically undermined, their careers and health ruined, and then their actions were described as “disgusting” by Mr Callinan. No doubt, the Government will now draw another line in the sand, hoping against hope his anticipated statement will put this issue to bed once and for all.

Nor by circling the wagons will Fine Gael deflect growing pressure on Mr Shatter to apologise to Garda McCabe whom he wrongly accused in the Dáil of not co-operating with a Garda probe. On sick leave at the time, he was never approached during the internal scrutiny of whistleblower allegations. In contrast with the findings of the inspectorate, the in-house investigation was limited and its results anodyne.

It is crucial to establish a fully autonomous authority to oversee the Garda Siochána. It must be independent of government and removed from the compass of the Justice Department. The Garda Ombudsman Commission should also be greatly strengthened.

Mr Kenny failed in his somewhat repressive bid to cloak this matter of enormous public interest in secrecy by moving to confine ministerial comment to a Cabinet meeting behind closed doors. Labour ministers, emboldened by the refreshingly frank comments of Transport Minister Leo Varadkar, who described the garda whistleblowers as “distinguished” when he called on Mr Callinan to apologise, have found the courage to belatedly join the mounting chorus. In stark contrast, FG ministers keep a Mafia-style silence of Omerta.

Like it or not, the Taoiseach’s reliance on secrecy by ordering ministers not to wash their dirty linen in public makes a mockery of the Coalition’s much-trumpeted election pledge to root out the nod-and-wink cancer of old style Irish politics, roundly rejected by voters in the last general election who eschewed a system long exploited by Fianna Fáil.

In its place, the Taoiseach promised voters a brave new era of openness, transparency and accountability. Yet another pledge broken and a readymade opportunity missed to radically change the cynical face of Irish politics.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.