Visit was catalyst for retirement - Fennelly Commission report

AT first glance, the Fennelly Commission report appears to vindicate the position of the Taoiseach with regard to the premature retirement in March of last year of former Garda commissioner Martin Callinan.

Mr Kenny has always asserted Mr Callinan departed on his own volition and that he had no hand, act, or part in it.

Yet while Mr Justice Fennelly’s report agrees that the Taoiseach did not actively dismiss Mr Callinan, it also notes that the visit by Brian Purcell, the then secretary general of the Department of Justice, to the home of the former Garda commissioner was the immediate catalyst for his retirement.