Cullen PR case - Second investigation a good idea

ALTHOUGH exonerated in a legal sense of any impropriety by the Quigley report into the awarding of the Leech PR contracts, Transport Minister Martin Cullen has possibly another hurdle to face before the saga ends.

The Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) is an independent body which has yet to decide whether to proceed with a second investigation into the circumstances of the contracts.

It is the minister’s own role in the episode which attracted the scrutiny in the first place and the consequent public perception of impropriety which caused Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to order the inquiry by Dermot Quigley, a former Revenue commission.