Author: gavin

Solicitor applies to cease to represent garda

A curious development.

The solicitor for a former garda applied yesterday to cease to represent him, saying his client was in St Patrick’s Psychiatric Hospital.

Retired garda John Nicholson was due to be recalled as a witness yesterday. He pleaded guilty in 2002 and was prosecuted for submitting forged statements of loss of earnings. These were for Bernard Conlon for court appearances in a licensing case against the McBreartys in Co Donegal.

Tom Murphy, solicitor for a number of gardaa­ besides Mr Nicholson, said yesterday he wished to no longer represent him.

Mr Justice Frederick Morris, chairman, said he could only make an order allowing Mr Murphy to come off record if he was satisfied it was appropriate to do so. The reasons should be set out in an affidavit.

“I don’t want to breach confidentiality but I understand that he is at the moment in St Patrick’s hospital, and I feel it is appropriate that if the reason is because of his detention in that institution that I would be grateful if you could provide a medical certificate in the affidavit confirming that fact.”

The chairman said if he had Mr Murphy’s consent he proposed to ask their own medical adviser to examine Mr Nicholson and ensure the order was correct.

Mr Murphy confirmed his client was in St Patrick’s and said he would draft the affidavit and get specific instructions on having the tribunal’s medical adviser examine his client.

Fitzwilton bids to block Mahon inquiry into Burke payment

More legal challenges to the Mahon Tribunal.

Fitzwilton will launch a legal bid in the High Court tomorrow to block the Mahon Tribunal from holding any public hearings into a £30,000 payment by the company to Ray Burke for Fianna Fail Funds.

Mr John Gordon, SC, counsel for Fitzwilton, told Mr Justice Barry White today that the application would “go to the heart of the Tribunal’s entitlement to have public hearings at all” relating to the Fitzwilton payment.

He said that should he succeed in obtaining leave of the court to challenge the Tribunal’s right to hold public hearings he would be asking the court to impose a stay on the hearings which the Tribunal had scheduled to start on September 28th.

Frank McBrearty Jnr settles with State for €1.5m

The Irish Times reports that the DoJ has settled with Frank McBrearty junior.

The Department of Justice has confirmed that Frank McBrearty junior has settled all claims with the state for a sum of €1.5million.The settlement relates to four claims, two in the name of Mr McBrearty, one in the name of his wife and one joint claim.

Some 47 high court actions by members of the extended Mr McBrearty family had been due to commence on October 18th. The claims relate to alleged malicious prosecution, wrongful arrest, planting of evidence and false arrest. State lawyers conceded liability for damages to McBrearty junior in June last.

Morris tribunal resumes today

The Morris Tribunal is back on, with the expected completion of the current module shortly.

The Morris tribunal resumes today after the summer recess, and over the next two weeks the “silver bullet” module is expected to be completed.

The garda at the centre of allegations of corruption, Det Sgt John White, will for the first time have the chance to give his evidence at the tribunal. He is denying all allegations against him.

Tomorrow, Det White is scheduled to appear in the witness box and is expected to give direct evidence and undergo cross-examination for at least five days.

The module concerns Bernard Conlon’s claim that in 1997 Det White asked him in Raphoe, Co Donegal, to be found drinking after hours on the premises of Frankie’s nightclub, owned by the McBrearty family.

Rossiters believe inquiry terms too narrow

As I expected would happen, the family of Brian Rossiter consider that the terms of the Dublin Police Act are not enough for an investigation into the death of their son. It seemed to me like a rather convenient way for McDowell to shut Village magazine up.

The parents of schoolboy Brian Rossiter (14), who died after a night in Garda custody, might not participate in an inquiry into the circumstances of his arrest and detention because they believe its terms of reference are too narrow.

Cian O’Carroll, solicitor for Pat and Siobhan Rossiter, told The Irish Times the family is considering their position because they feel the inquiry will be unable to answer why Brian died.

Mr O’Carroll pointed out the Rossiter family may opt to pursue a High Court action instituted by Siobhan Rossiter over her son’s death as they feel the Government inquiry is being brought under legislation that is overly restrictive.

He said the Dublin Police Act 1924 will limit the inquiry to simply a Garda disciplinary-type forum and that the Rossiters believe the High Court action will provide a better forum to investigate what happened to Brian.

Mr O’Carroll said the promise by Minister for Justice Michael McDowell to pay legal costs did not reflect the market reality of legal fees as charged by senior counsel.

“The figure that’s on offer here for senior counsel per day is €1,008 but there’s no senior counsel currently before any tribunal in the country appearing for that amount.”

Family calls for new inquiry into cell hanging

Another death in Garda custody.

A man who died in hospital at the weekend after he attempted to hang himself while in Garda custody may have been mistreated, his family has claimed. The family of Terence Wheelock from Dublin’s north inner city has called for an independent inquiry into his death.

Mr Wheelock was detained by gardaa­ in a cell in Store Street Garda station on June 2nd last, where he attempted to hang himself with a cord taken from his tracksuit bottoms.

Gardaa­ and fire brigade officers rushed Mr Wheelock to the Mater hospital, where he died on Friday having never regained consciousness.

Evidence was given that the cord had been secured so low down on the wall that Mr Wheelock had to kneel in his bid to strangle himself. Yet his family has claimed that he was not suicidal and laid flowers at the Garda station on Saturday.

The family also insists that Mr Wheelock suffered bruising and sustained a cut. Neither gardaa­ nor fire officers supported this allegation.

A Garda inquiry was set up to look into the circumstances surrounding Mr Wheelock’s death. However, family members claim they have not been given access to its findings or the statements which were made.

The family are calling for an investigation, along the lines of the current one into Brian Rossiter’s death.

On AIB

Ah, poor Tom, poor Tom Mulcahy. After 29 years of dedicated service, he is stabbed in the back by his former employer. The former chief executive of Allied Irish Banks recently claimed that he was squealed on to the Revenue Commissioners on alleged tax evasion charges. Tom, however, is determined to set the record straight.

He admitted to Revenue that he had an undisclosed non-resident account in England containing ‘several hundred thousandâ€? but there had been no transaction on it for years. This sounds like the “Father Ted’ defence; the money was just “resting’ in my account? Several hundred thousand? Sure, who could be expected to remember such a petty sum hidden away in an illegal account?
Anyway, Here’s how he described his settlement with Revenue “I am not saying that I was always compliant. I made a voluntary disclosure and paid what I thought was due, which is the right open to all citizens”

This is a very interesting statement, not just because it reveals that people like Tom are allowed to decide how much tax they will pay but also because he seems to genuinely think that it is a “right’ due to all citizens. He seems to be unaware that ordinary “peasants’ are not afforded this “right’.

Over the years, AIB has robbed many millions from the State and its own customers through various frauds. Tom defends his time as chief executive of this dodgy organisation between 1994 and 2001 by adopting the “I know nothing’ plea made famous by the Spanish waiter, Manuel’ in Fawlty Towers. ‘A chief executive’s role is to be positive and focus on driving the bank forward, rather than look for hidden problems.â€? He tells us.

Miraculously, Tom seemed to have developed a talent for finding hidden problems during his time as effective chairman of Aer Lingus. He’s very proud of the great job “he‘ did to turn the airline around, ‘I was in there seven days a weekâ€?, he tells us. Alas, once again, he was stabbed in the back, with all the praise going to that young whipper-snapper, Willie Walsh.

It seems poor old Tom just can’t win. He knew nothing about the dodgy dealings when he was the main man at AIB but still had to pay tax on his own dodgy account. He claims that he was the golden boy in turning Aer Lingus around but the credit went elsewhere – Ah, poor Tom, there’s just no justice in the world.

Allied Irish Banks investigates itself

The latest in a long line of scandals involving Allied Irish Banks was reported by the Irish Times as earlier this week.

It emerged yesterday that AIB has been investigating new claims that AIB deliberately and repeatedly overcharged foreign exchange customers in its branches during the 1980s and the 1990s

Those unfamiliar with how things are done in the Banana Republic of Ireland may be surprised to learn that AIB, the largest financial institution in the country, is allowed to investigate itself with very little interference from the State. The full situation, however, is even more bizarre. The Sunday Business Post, who broke the story relates how AIB compliance officers from its business ethics unit grilled several staff members for hours.

The methods used by this unit are what one would expect in a… well, in a banana republic.
Those grilled were given no legal or union representation, warned (threatened?) about possible future consequences arising from the matter, sworn to secrecy and pressurised into informing on their colleagues.

It should be kept in mind that the Gardai, (the official state police force) have no involvement whatsoever in this matter. The Financial Regulator seems to play only a peripheral role in so far as AIB keeps the body informed of its activities. Indeed, a spokeswoman for the regulator said that its main priority in any investigation is (merely) to identify the customers involved. (My italics)

It is also likely that AIB will be permitted to act as judge and jury on staff members based on the results of its investigation. Last year, after a similar scandal, AIB handed down ‘punishment’ on several staff members for their misdeeds. One man, however, had the temerity to challenge his ‘sentence’ and took AIB to a ‘real’ court. He won his case and claimed he was very happy with the outcome. AIB, however, insisted that no special deal was done. Who do we believe? Was he paid off or did he suddenly realise that AIB was really only concerned with his best interests? The Financial Regulator, of course, had no comment to make.

To give a better perspective on how things are done in the Banana Republic of Ireland it can be useful to make comparisons with how other jurisdictions handle these cases. At the moment a case not unlike the AIB matter is under way in Australia. So far, two men have been sentenced, one to 16 months and the other to two and a half years in jail.

In real democracies, when white collar crime is detected, the following procedures usually ensue – Police investigation, arrests and trial if enough evidence is found, appropriate punishment including jail sentences for the guilty. In the Banana Republic of Ireland?… Ah,sure, you know yourself!

Only one event at centre this year is equestrian

Everyone remembers the controversy surrouding State funding for this center in Kildare, then Charlie McCreevy’s constituency. It seems now that all that taxpayers money was given away for nothing, as we all expected.

Just one event taking place in the controversial Agricultural and Equestrian Event Centre in Punchestown this year can be described as either equestrian or agricultural, an Oireachtas Committee heard yesterday.

During a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (Pac) the €15 million State-funded centre was described by the Department of Agriculture as meeting a need in the agricultural and equestrian sectors for such a facility.

The department was presenting a review of the project which claimed it was properly sited at Punchestown and provided a positive economic and social benefit.

Pac chairman Michael Noonan of Fine Gael questioned the relationship between a series of events taking place at the centre this year and the agricultural and equestrian sector. These included a chilled food show, the Oxegen Rock concert, a car show, a house and garden exhibition, a Christmas trade show and a commercial truck show.

He said that of the 10 events at the centre this year, the only event that appeared to be linked to agriculture was the Kildare Growers’ show, a horticultural show taking place at the moment.

“There seems to be a divergence between the theory and the practice,” Mr Noonan said.