FORMER MINISTER for defence Willie O’Dea TD has been informed by gardaí that he has no criminal case to answer following an investigation into allegations he had perjured himself in an affidavit in a libel case.
Speaking to The Irish Timesfrom his constituency base in Limerick last night, Mr O'Dea said he had been informed by a senior Garda officer yesterday of the decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions that there was no criminal case to answer.
While relieved, he was not surprised by the outcome.
“The allegation was one of perjury, which means I deliberately and knowingly gave an untrue version of accounts in an affidavit. I knew I hadn’t done that.”
Garda sources last night confirmed the DPP’s decision. The matter, which centred on suggestions by Mr O’Dea that Sinn Féin councillor Maurice Quinlivan was linked to a brothel, forced Mr O’Dea to resign as minister for defence in February.
The Garda had investigated the matter, sent a file on the case to the DPP, who had reviewed it and concluded that he, Mr O’Dea, had no case to answer.
"But I still lost my job. It's like something out of Alice in Wonderland: pass the sentence now and have the trial later," Mr O'Dea said last night.
He had also paid compensation to Mr Quinlivan and had been “through a very difficult time”. Mr Quinlivan took a libel action against Mr O’Dea after being informed that Mr O’Dea had told a journalist from the Limerick Leader newspaper that he, Mr Quinlivan, was linked to a brothel that had been raided by gardaí in Limerick.
Mr O’Dea submitted an affidavit to the High Court in April 2009, in which he “categorically and emphatically” denied making the claims about Mr Quinlivan.
However, a tape of his interview with the Limerick journalist emerged in which Mr O’Dea linked Mr Quinlivan to the brothel, telling the journalist to check the matter with his sources.
Last December, Mr O’Dea withdrew his denial of having made the statement about Mr Quinlivan and agreed to pay him damages. He said the version sworn in his affidavit was his genuine recollection of the events, though that recollection was later found to be wrong.
In February, the matter came to a head when Green Party leader John Gormley went to Taoiseach Brian Cowen and told him the stability of the Coalition would be at risk if Mr O’Dea remained in office. Mr O’Dea resigned.
Green Party councillor Gary Fitzgerald then made a formal complaint to gardaí, alleging Mr O’Dea had perjured himself. Gardaí began an investigation which has now resulted in the decision by the DPP that Mr O’Dea has no case to answer.