BREAKING: Taoiseach says he understands 'concern and anger' over treatment of cleared Limerick gardai

TAOISEACH Micheál Martin has played down the possibility of there being a public inquiry into the cases of a number of Limerick gardai - who have been completely exonerated - after being suspended from the force for years.

“We have to be careful about having public inquiries on so many issues. Public inquiries take an enormous length of time, cost an enormous amount of money and often do not give solace to those who sought them in the first instance,” he told reporters in Limerick this Friday, where he was attending graduations at the Moylish campus of the Technological University of the Shannon.

Retired Superintendent Eamon O’Neill, Sergeant Michelle Leahy, Garda Anne Marie Hassett, Garda Tom McGlinchey and Garda Colm Geary, were found not guilty on all 39 charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice over Fixed Charge Penalty Notices (FCPNs) relating to road traffic offences. It followed a nine-week jury trial in Limerick Circuit Criminal Court which concluded in January.

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On Wednesday, Limerick Circuit Court heard the State prosecution case against Garda Peter O'Donnell, Garda Paul Baynham and Garda Niall Deegan - who were accused of squaring away FCPNs - will not be going ahead.

It has led to calls from a number of TDs, Garda Representative Association and rank-and-file members of the force for a probe.

While Mr Martin said he understood the “concern and anger” by many over what transpired, “we should be reviewing situations like this with the existing mechanisms and institutions”.

“I want to make the point that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is independent. Politicians cannot interfere in the work of the DPP or its office or indeed the operational day-to-day running of An Garda Siochana. That is a matter for the commission,” he said.

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Asked if he is concerned himself, the Taoiseach said: “I don’t have the full background on the situation. Decisions were taken by An Garda Siochana in relation to this. The DPP  followed up on it, but the court took its decision. The length of time this took put enormous pressure on families and people.”

Elsewhere, Mr Martin has said the long-awaited review into legislation governing the role of Limerick’s directly elected mayor will kick off this year.

And he has appealed to council staff and members to work together “in the best interests of Limerick”.

It comes in a week where there have been further disclosures about the relationship between Mayor John Moran, councillors, and staff members of Limerick City and County Council.

As part of this, the mayor alleged that a physical altercation took place between himself and the council’s director general, Dr Pat Daly, where he was “manhandled out the way”.

It’s sparked calls for an evaluation of the laws governing the historic role - the first executive mayoralty in Ireland.

Mayor Moran had earlier this week suggested that by delaying the review, he felt the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is “washing its hands” of the matter.

“It will be reviewed, but you do have to give it a bit of time as well to make sure you know what you're reviewing. I will make the point, irrespective of structure, that people have to work together. The same applies to the existing local authority structures across the country. Very often there can be tensions between the chief executive, councillors and so on. I do believe there will be a review. It will be before the end of the year which is bringing it forward, as my understanding under the legislation it is a three-year review when it was legislated for.”

Elsewhere, an investigation by the Irish Times has found that alumina produced at the Aughinish Alumina refinery in Limerick—owned by Rusal—is being exported to Russia, where it is turned into aluminium that ultimately reaches companies supplying Russia’s military, including weapons manufacturers involved in the war in Ukraine.

Speaking on this, Mr Martin stated: “We have to make absolutely sure that the outputs of Aughinish do not end up through intermediaries facilitating Russia. That is a real concern, and it's something we will examine and work with all the interested parties to get to the bottom of. It seems to be through intermediaries. Since the beginning of sanctions, we have been working with fellow member States to develop measures which will prevent circumvention of sanctions. There's been a wide degree of attempted circumvention of sanctions across the board in many products and many areas. This is another.”

“We support sanctions against Russia in respect of their invasion of Ukraine. But we have always worked on the principle as well that we don't want to damage ourselves more than damaging Russia,” the Taoiseach concluded.