What's Going on ?

[hollyisalovelyname]

The Guards
The Whistleblowers
The Politicians
What is going on?

[KanyesVest]

Utterly fucking terrifying. Miriam Lord's piece today in the IT is worth its usual read.

[hollyisalovelyname]

As is Fintan O' Tooles.
Thanks Kanye.
I was a bit 😱 that no other Irish Mumsnetter was commenting.

[MaudGonneMad]

I just caught up on it this morning and am about the whole thing.

As an aside, I was thinking how different Irish news is to UK news. It's a bizarre story, but somehow less depressing than all the Brexit gloom.

[KanyesVest]

Yes, Fintan O'Toole was very good today too. The more I read about it the more horrified I am... I don't know the technicalities of the commission of investigation system but how O'Sullivan isn't currently on leave is somewhat perplexing. And whether her cock up was inexperience or anything else, my view of Zappone is now in the toilet.

[hollyisalovelyname]

My view of Zappone was in the toilet once I read of her longer drive home expenses.
I thought she was better than that. Really disappointed 😨

[A1Sharon]

Oh, what have I missed? Any links for those of us not 'back home?'

[KanyesVest]

Rte.ie and the Irish Times have a million articles. Basically Sgt Gerry MacCabe (whistle blower) was falsely accused of a terrible sex offense, which was reported to Tusla (child & family agency) and determined to be completely false. The report was supposedly accidentally sent to the gardai (copy and paste error ) by Tulsa. MacCabe was never told so ever given the chance to challenge the apparent whispers in the upper echelons of the guards, media and TDs. But Commissioner O'Sullivan says she knew nothing. Massive clusterfuck since with who knew/ told people/ cocked up apologies to the MacCabe family.

Something, somewhere stinks.

[KanyesVest]

Crap, not Gerry MacCabe (RIP), Maurice McCabe.

[hollyisalovelyname]

It makes me so sad for my country.

[hollyisalovelyname]

I'm sad too that only 4 Irish Mumsnetters are bothered by what's going on.

[ScarletForYa]

I'm bothered. Very bothered. That poor, poor man. I believe he's devastated.

Were Tusla complicit?

I don't understand that part?

[KanyesVest]

Tbh, Scarlet, I can't make head nor tail of it all, but as a completely ordinary Josephine Soap, the "accidental" copy and pasting of a demonstrated false report against a garda whistleblower to the guards, seems at best a massive cock up and at worst a horrifying prospect for anyone daring to put their head above the parapet. It won't surprise me if this is the end for the government (although god save us the FF "alternative"). And how they expect a full criminal investigation to bring everything out is beyond me - who's going to bring the prospect of this on themselves?

[Amber76]

I'm really confused by the whole story. In 2006 a claim was made that McCabe had assaulted the young daughter if a colleague. The DPP decided there wasn't enough evidence and so did not pursue it - file closed.
But apparently McCabe was not informed at the time about either the claim or the decision to not pursue it. He says he knew nothing about rje claim of sexual assault until 2015?? This seems really strange to me - wouldn't the DPP be obligated to inform him of this decision made in 2006?
Haven't commented on it because i don't understand it at all.

[A1Sharon]

Holly most don't know Craicnet exists, and I wouldn't take the fact that only a handful have posted on here as meaning the rest don't give a shite.
I live in NI and I have never heard a single thing about this.

[Rachel0Greep]

I have been trying to get my head around it, over the last few days. It's frightening stuff, IMO.

[Rachel0Greep]

Statement from the McCabes, including the questions that they want answered.

www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/maurice-and-lorraine-mccabe-statement-truth-today--justice-can-follow-776969.html

[hollyisalovelyname]

I see another Garda whistleblower is saying he too, along with his family, have suffered intimidation, bullying and being reported to the Child Protection Agency.
As somebody brought up to respect the guards I am just appalled at those at the top not just condoning but allegedly instigating this bullying.
Evil exists because good people do nothing.
The whistleblowers tried to bring about change and look what they got for their trouble!!!!----Accusations of child abuse.

As an aside, nobody has mentioned this but the penalty points issue impacts all of us who pay insurance.
If I get penalty points my insurance premium goes up. It impacts me financially.
But if my neighbour is friends with or family of a guard and gets a penalty point his points were being written off.

As former Garda Commissioner Callinan said
'.... quite frankly I think it's disgusting' and he was talking about whistleblowing!!!!!


I weep for this lovely country.

[junebirthdaygirl]

It's worth remembering that the Garda who made the initial allegation against Garda McCabe is the colleague he blew the whistle on as regards getting people off penalty points. So total intimidation.Also another Garda..Taylor was told by higher authorities to leak the story of the allegations to the media in order to sully Garda McCabes good name. And much more. Desperate bullying and quite frightening for the country. What that family has gone through is horrific.
Agree, by the way that as soon as Č. Zappone upped her expenses she was gone out of favour with me forever.

[hollyisalovelyname]

Re your first point June - I know - beggars belief.
As Geldof said many years ago '.... banana republic'

Who is telling the truth now - Kenny or Zappone ?

In a former life was our Tanaiste/ Minister for Justice a social worker ?

[hollyisalovelyname]

Is there anyone in government who has the ba**s to stand up and tell the truth and call it as it is ?

[macnab]

I'm equally as horrified as the rest of you. They are all scrambling around now trying to cover their own arses, I can only imagine that none of them want to comment because they are implicated in the original scandal that McCabe had blown the whistle on. God only knows the depth of it. It is just so depressing that there appears to be nobody with any real sense of decency and nobility in our elected government - or certainly at the helm anyway. It's corrupt to the core. Cronyism is rife, it's like they make all the right noises about having principles and working for the common good etc etc and then get a little taste of power and their moral compass implodes and it's all about "what's in it for me". It makes me sick. And as others have said there's really no alternative as it seems to happen to everyone as soon as they get their ass settled in Kildare Stree
I'm so very sad for McCabe and his family, although he has the support of the majority of the population it's all a bit too little too late. And now there's talk of an "enquiry" - given our track record for enquiries to date I can't see us getting anything other than a very hefty legal bill, certainly not the answers to any pertinent questions and definitely no justice for McCabe.

[Rachel0Greep]

I'm amazed at his strength and indeed that of his wife and family. He certainly has fought a hard and lonely battle for so many years. It beggars belief what corruption there must be 'on high' that the reaction was to try and destroy his good name. Nothing will ever give him back or compensate him for the years of stress and strain . I remember at some stage reading about a Garda whistleblower - I'm not sure if it was him or not - coming home late at night to find a dead rat pinned to his front door. That has been going through my mind all day.

The state ultimately owes a huge debt to the courageous few such as Maurice McCabe who were brave enough to speak out. I shudder to think about what must have been covered up over the years, on the basis that one should not at any cost 'break ranks'. Shocking, shocking times.

[TheGirlFromNoWhere]

Can someone explain to me what Katherine Zappone has done wrong..I genuinely don't understand and I'm feeling rather ignorant

She told Kenny she met with the McCabes and what the file was about (albeit not detailed)...is it just that she didn't tell the Cabinet?

I was wondering what the connection between the whistleblowing and the false allegation was, thanks to June for explaining that.
(I'm not very good at reading between the lines with these things )

[honeyrider]

I'm not a bit surprised about the smear campaign and reporting whistleblowers to Tulsa because it's not just the gardai that do that as there are other people in positions of authority who use that threat to scare people from reporting allegations of abuse.

FG TD John Deasy has said he and another senior TD were approached by a senior garda of high rank in January 2014 who was smearing Maurice McCabe's reputation. John McGuinness FF TD was chair of the PAC and he was invited to a meeting in a hotel car park with the former garda commissioner Callinan where Callinan smeared the reputation of Maurice McCabe.

I don't believe a word out of Frances Fitzgerald and Noirin O'Sullivan's mouths.

There's a long history of scandals in the garda siochana, the country's now a police state.

Today Enda Kenny has given 3 different versions of what happened and that's just in one day. Katherine Zappone is a major disappointment and has been showing her naivety since she was elected.

Fine Gael and Fianna Fail are trying to keep the terms of reference to just Maurice McCabe and not include the other whistleblower garda who had his reputation destroyed after being reported to Tulsa.

[hollyisalovelyname]

Brilliant post Macnab.

I think the disappointment with Katherine Zappone initially has to do with her expenses - she takes a longer route home and can claim, I think, a lot more €€€ by doing so.
She was supposed to be a breath of fresh air in a place where so many have their snouts in the trough - printer ink cartridges, first class travel and mobile phone bills come to mind.

If Katherine Zappone said she was meeting the McCabes / ITusla surely Enda Kenny or Frances Fitzgerald would ask her why ( if they knew nothing about the allegations ) ?