Alan Kelly challenges Government over Garda disclosure handling
Kelly said ministers acted without legal authority over a protected disclosure; Tánaiste Simon Harris defended their conduct and said the Government would engage with Colm Horkan’s family.
Labour TD Alan Kelly told the Dáil on 5 November that the Government was in “very dangerous and potentially fatal” territory over its handling of a protected disclosure by Detective Superintendent Brian O’Reilly, according to RTÉ News. Tánaiste Simon Harris defended the conduct of the current and former justice ministers, saying they had acted in line with the advice available to them.
What Kelly said about O’Reilly’s disclosure
Kelly said Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan and his predecessor, Helen McEntee, had admitted in the Dáil on 4 November that they acted without legal authority in handling O’Reilly’s disclosure. That account of the previous day’s statements was reported by RTÉ; the legal question is not resolved by the reports, and Harris said both ministers had discharged their duties in line with advice.
TheJournal.ie reported that the disclosure concerned concerns about allegedly faulty Garda firearm holsters and was initially sent to McEntee in September 2023. Kelly said that after the Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner appointed the Department of Justice’s then secretary general to examine it, the matter was “locked in time”. He also alleged that O’Reilly had been treated “like dirt” by An Garda Síochána and the department; the reports present that as Kelly’s criticism, not as an established finding.
Why Colm Horkan’s family objects to the inquiry
Kelly also said the family of Garda Colm Horkan felt let down by the form of inquiry announced into his killing and would not cooperate. TheJournal.ie reported that on 4 November Fiosrú, the Garda watchdog, accepted a request from O’Callaghan to investigate the gun holster issued to Horkan. The family is seeking a public inquiry into the circumstances of his death.
Horkan was shot 11 times on 17 June 2020 after an assailant took his firearm while he was on duty in Castlerea, County Roscommon, TheJournal.ie reported. Kelly pointed to a 2019 investigation by the then Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission into defective holsters, which he said began 11 months before Horkan’s death, as a reason the family lacked confidence in the new investigation.
Harris said the Government would reflect on the family’s comments and engage with them to find a mechanism that works. He said the minister remained open-minded about a public inquiry. Kelly’s remarks came amid a Dáil debate on 4 November over an Aontú motion calling for a formal inquiry into protected-disclosure handling and whistleblower protections, TheJournal.ie reported. Fiosrú’s investigation has not yet established its outcome, and the Government has not announced whether a public inquiry will be held.
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Sources and context
- Govt criticised over garda protected disclosures handlingRTÉ News
- Dáil told garda whistleblower was treated 'like dirt' by Department of JusticeTheJournal.ie
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.