O’Sullivan’s baffling evidence leaves us none the wiser

What a wonderful institution – An Garda Síochána. It sounds like a wonderful place in which to work.

The evidence of the former commissioner to the Charleton tribunal yesterday would nearly make anyone think about chucking in the job and trying for a place in Templemore.

Nóirín O’Sullivan’s evidence was very confusing, though. In fact, we weren’t entirely sure why we were in King George’s Hall in Dublin Castle (scene of great tribunals past) in the first place.

Short of wrapping him in cotton wool, there was nothing Nóirín's force wouldn't do to make sure Maurice was feeling happy in himself and his uniform

Tribunals aren’t usually all about sweetness and light. But by the time O’Sullivan finished for the day, we could feel the love.

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By the close of business, Maurice McCabe – the whistleblower at the centre of this inquiry – emerged as the most cherished of An Garda Síochána’s deeply cherished ranks of awkward cops.

Short of wrapping him in cotton wool, there was nothing Nóirín’s force wouldn’t do to make sure Maurice was feeling happy in himself and his uniform. In fact, they spoke a couple of times in 2014 when McCabe’s allegations were nationally known and the boss told him straight out that she “absolutely” supported him in the workplace.

It’s an example of what the former commissioner described as her policy of “setting the tone from the top down”. This phase of the tribunal is investigating if she tried to use “unjustified grounds” in an attempt to discredit Sgt McCabe during the private O’Higgins commission hearings, which were investigating his allegations of Garda malpractice.

Motivation

While outside those hearings the top brass mood music was all lush and harmonious where McCabe’s concerns were concerned, it emerged that counsel for the commissioner had been instructed to challenge his motivation in levelling complaints about unacceptable Garda practises.

But, and O’Sullivan couldn’t stress this enough, while her legal team may have been told to question his motivation, she in no way wanted his bona fides challenged nor his integrity impugned.

In her view, McCabe's actions were "proper and appropriate" and entirely without malice. This led tribunal lawyer Kathleen Leader to wonder why, if the man was doing everything by the book, did she feel the need to question his motivation in the first place?

Well now. You see, there is motivation and there is motivation. The former commissioner had her own interpretation of motivation as it related to McCabe and she explained this to the tribunal in the most convoluted and baffling way, complete with a couple of sentences which trailed off into nothingness.

It wasn’t his motivation for making the allegations which interested Nóirín. “It would be the motivation in terms of what led Sgt McCabe to the conclusion that the malpractice and the various incidents led, combined together, to . . .”

Or to put it another way: “It was an understanding of what led Sgt McCabe to believe, and particularly in relation to corruption and malpractice, how had all of these individual incidents, which no doubt there were shortcomings in, but what elements of those individual incidents had led to the belief of the motivation and corruption . . .”

The lawyers were instructed to challenge McCabe’s motivation so she could gain a better understanding of the man. That’s all.

The tribunal lawyer called her interpretation “unique”.

Sgt McCabe, by the way, took none too kindly to what he saw was an aggressive line of questioning on behalf of his superiors. And this while they were publicly calling him a great man. But the then commissioner had anticipated this. She said she knew this would change his perception of her “and what I was trying to do for him”. Which it did.

As a result of the line adopted by the commissioner’s lawyers, McCabe said he felt threatened by O’Sullivan and feared the Garda powers that be would “be down on him like a ton of bricks” if given the chance.

Nonetheless, despite the fact that the sergeant probably now detested her, O’Sullivan knew “what I had to do was to ensure that the supports that we had in place [for McCabe] continued, and they did.”

Furthermore, it must be said that, in cherishing Maurice to the nth degree, the commissioner went the extra mile in 2014 and decided to bring in a mediator to assist in bringing his concerns to the fore. “We had identified Kieran Mulvey” she said.

Mediator

That wouldn’t have been difficult. Mulvey is the Messi of mediators. The Ronaldo of the round table. Nóirín was setting the tone from the top.

In the end, McCabe went for a chief-super from the Mayo division. But Mulvey was engaged later anyway to do a review of Garda bullying and harassment policies.

Sgt McCabe and his wife Lorraine sat at a table in the area reserved for legal teams while the former commissioner gave her evidence. They listened carefully, but with little reaction. At lunchtime, when Mr Justice Charleton rather abruptly adjourned, Nóirín made a beeline straight for Maurice and shook his hand.

“How are you getting on?” she enquired breezily, a big smile on her face. They chatted for a little while. Nóirín did most of the talking.

Sgt McCabe looked a little awkward, arms folded tightly across his chest.

We’re none the wiser after yesterday’s session. Michael McDowell SC, for McCabe, is up today. He says he’ll be on his feet for most of it. He’s on record as saying he wants to cross-examine Nóirín on allegations which were made on her behalf at the O’Higgins commission.

He added that he didn’t think she would enjoy the experience. That should guarantee a full house.