Serious Garda allegations amplified by RTÉ Investigates – what happens next?

The big question in the aftermath of the RTÉ Investigates programme is, what happens next? Unlike other whistleblower controversies, many of the allegations made involved systems and arrangements in An Garda Síochána, rather than serious allegations against named senior officers.The four current or former members of the Garda, sworn officers and senior civilian staff interviewed for the programme made claims about chaotic and highly dangerous practices for the storage of firearms, ammunition and explosive powders, all in a shipping container in Garda Headquarters.Other serious allegations centred on the claimed unsuitability of holsters issued to more than 1,500 armed gardaí. It was alleged the holsters became loose over time and the leather creased around the trigger of the gun, creating the threat of an accidental discharge. Concern was also expressed that fingers could reach into the holster, even when it was closed, and the trigger pulled.And, of course, there were claims that the system of protected disclosures in the force was not working. Two of those interviewed – Donal Corcoran and Rose Sweeney – were once responsible for managing and arranging the investigation of allegations made by Garda members in protected disclosures.READ MOREThe other two interviewees were Det Supt Brian O’Reilly, the former head of the Garda Technical Bureau, and former Garda armourer Luke Rochford.Corcoran and Sweeney have claimed Garda management deflected and stalled when allegations were made in disclosures. It was said management was more concerned with protecting the reputations of Garda members than rooting out the truth so reforms could take place. Corcoran claimed he was blocked from his work, and ultimately moved sideways out of his role in the Protected Disclosures unit, to such an extent he was now “broken”. Sweeney said she was put under pressure to close files early.The most serious allegation made against a named officer was one of overreach into the protected disclosures process, which is supposed to be independent and confidential, by former Garda commissioner Drew Harris. He denied the allegation.But, unlike allegations brought forward by Sgt Maurice McCabe, who blew the whistle on a range of issues, there appears to be no allegation here, for now anyway, that could topple a Minister or even a senior officer.[ Garda whistleblowers are being ‘penalised and even purged’, Dáil toldOpens in new window ]These are claims of systemic and culture failures rather than allegations of criminal or inappropriate conduct by named officers. And the most detailed of the allegations is not new.However, there is nothing more emotive and raw in the Garda than the death on duty of a colleague. And the fact Det Garda Colm Horkan’s gun murder while on duty in Castlerea, Co Roscommon, in 2020 was mixed in here could become incendiary. It has effectively been alleged the holster his gun was in was so unsuitable, and dangerous, it aided his killer, Stephen Silver, in grabbing Colm Horkan’s gun from him and shooting him dead with the firearm.That is perhaps the claim that will endure and could spin out of control. The Labour Party clearly thinks so. Its former leader, Alan Kelly, has for a long time raised in the Dáil the issues now amplified by the RTÉ Investigates broadcast on Wednesday night.He wants answers as to whether leather holsters on issue to more than 1,500 Garda members, including Colm Horkan, were defective, and known to be defective inside the Garda force, putting the lives of armed gardaí at risk.He urged the Government “to finally do the right thing and sanction an independent investigation into how faulty equipment was given to gardaí”. That call is unlikely to go away.[ Stephen Silver: The full story of his trial for the murder of Garda Colm HorkanOpens in new window ]Deputy Commissioner Paul Cleary said he could not comment on the specific allegations made by the four interviewees on RTÉ Investigates due to their current situations with the Garda force. One – Rochford – was before the courts on criminal charges while the others were engaged in some form of litigation with the Garda, including in the civil courts or the Workplace Relations Commission.Cleary accepted the four interviewees were left with a particular, negative, impression of how they were treated, which was reflected in the fact that all four have now spoken out. But, he added, the four expressing their deep dissatisfaction was not the same as an account of how the matters raised by them, individually, were investigated. The fact that they were frustrated, or said they were “broken”, was not proof the investigations into their claims were “flawed” or there was an attempt at “concealment”. “I understand where they are coming from,” he told Claire Byrne on Newstalk. “But ... I can’t accept every characterisation in the programme as an established fact simply because it’s being said publicly or with conviction or emotion.”