Still nothing to see here, Shatter?

THE story broke in The Sunday Times on February 9. In a security sweep the previous autumn, it had been discovered that there were three potential security breaches of communication systems in the office of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, located on Dublin’s Capel St.

The sweep was carried out by a UK firm Verrimus, which had extensive experience in the area.

By the following day, the Government was focused on damping down the story. Taoiseach Enda Kenny misquoted the law and suggested GSOC should have informed the justice minister about the issue. The story, the line went, was the failure to keep Alan Shatter informed of what was going on, not whether somebody was bugging GSOC.