Maurice McCabe: Quiet man who started a historic reform

MAURICE McCabe’s voice has never been heard in public. No microphone has been thrust under his chin by a salivating pack of reporters. He has not sat in the Late Late Show chair next to Ryan Tubridy and held a nation transfixed with his story. Marian Finucane has not had the opportunity to excavate his character. Neither has Matt Cooper, nor any of the programme presenters on Newstalk. Vincent Browne has never had the pleasure.

Maurice McCabe has not bared his soul in any newspaper interviews or addressed any public gathering. The only gathering he has appeared before was the Public Accounts Committee last January, and that was behind closed doors.

The only TV and still shots of McCabe are those showing him entering and leaving Leinster House on that day he appeared before the PAC. He looks nothing out of the ordinary, dressed, at least partly, in his garda uniform, a carrier bag slung over his shoulder. The shots now frequently shown on news bulletins depict him seeking out the entrance to Leinster House, a polite smile on his face. He nods at the garda standing at the entrance, colleagues from the same side of the street, but living in different worlds.