Whistleblower scandal - Minister should be long gone

A political earthquake, right off the Richter scale, struck the Dáil yesterday when embattled Justice Minister Alan Shatter finally withdrew and apologised for his damaging statements about garda whistleblowers, Sergeant Maurice McCabe and John Wilson, two courageous men who deserve to be thanked for exposing what is now known to be widespread abuse of the penalty points system by members of the force.

Having suffered severely as a result of the minister’s handling of this affair, their actions have been vindicated and the Dáil record corrected. Hopefully, though six months late with his apology, Mr Shatter will learn some lessons from this affair. His arrogant treatment of the whistleblowers contrasts starkly with the supportive backing they got from Transport Minister Leo Varadkar, who, after the “disgusting” reference by former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan, described their actions as “distinguished”.

Much of the problem in this regrettable scenario has been the Taoiseach’s blind faith in Mr Shatter, loyalty which excluded any doubt when the dogs on the street knew an apology was warranted.