Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
The AGSI, which represents middle-ranking gardaí, has called for the chairman of GSOC Simon O’Brien to consider his position.
However, a statement this evening said that O’Brien would not be resigning, and his position was not in question, RTÉ reports.
Kieran Fitzgerald of GSOC is to appear on RTÉ television programme Prime Time tonight.
‘Not acceptable’
General Secretary of the association John Redmond spoke briefly to reporters on his way into a meeting on an unrelated matter at the Department of Justice this morning.
Redmond said it was not acceptable that GSOC suspected a crime may have taken place and that it wasn’t reported to gardaí.
Asked whether he was calling for O’Brien to step down or to consider his position, Redmond replied that the GSOC chairman should “consider his position, most definitely”.
The GRA, which represents rank-and-file gardaí, didn’t go quite as far as that — but General Secretary of the body PJ Stone said an immediate, extensive independent inquiry was needed.
“From listening to pundits on all sides of the debate it seems there is a toxic relationship here between the Garda Síochána and GSOC,” Stone said.
“I don’t believe there is any garda involvement in this — but to remove any suspicion there should be an independent inquiry set up immediately to get to the bottom of this.
“My members are left exposed. Their data could have been syphoned off — if this is not the case then we need further clarification immediately.”
Misplaced emphasis
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has also added his voice to the calls for an independent body to be brought in.
Speaking earlier, Martin said the Government’s approach to the matter to date had placed undue emphasis on secondary issues — like whether the Commission should have reported what happened to the Minister for Justice at an earlier date.
Asked about the issue yesterday, several Cabinet members raised the issue of why the matter wasn’t brought to Shatter’s attention earlier.
However, Martin said that the focus should be on the “key issue” of “was the office bugged?”.
Advertisement
“Emphasis seemed be focusing on the issue of whether or not [The Garda Ombudsman] should have referred this to the Minister,” Martin said.
He said the issue of what had happened “needs to be urgently resolved” adding that it was important the full facts came out in order to maintain public confidence in the agency.
Statements
GSOC was called in to discuss the developing controversy with Minister Shatter yesterday.
In a statement released after that meeting, the agency said that “three technical and electronic anomalies” that could not be “conclusively explained” were found following an investigation which concluded in December.
The agency said it regretted not bringing the matter to the Minister sooner, but that it was satisfied its databases were not compromised.
GSOC also stressed:
There was no evidence of Garda misconduct. The Commission decided to discontinue the investigation on the basis that no further action was necessary or reasonably practicable.
In the wake of that statement, Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan released one of his own, taking issue with GSOC’s reference to the gardaí.
He said he would be seeking clarification from the agency on “issues resulting from its statement”.
It is a cause of grave concern that the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission’s statement contains a clear indication that An Garda Síochána was in some way suspected of complicity in this matter despite GSOC’s overall finding that the existence of technical and electronic anomalies could not be conclusively explained.
Garda Ombudsman Chairman Simon O'Brien leaving a meeting with Justice Minister Alan Shatter at the Department of Justice yesterday [Niall Carson/PA Wire]
Chairman of the Public Service Oversight Committee Pádraig McLochlainn has also suggested that a third organisation be brought in investigate the matter further.
McLochlainn, who is also Sinn Féin justice spokesperson, said further investigation would be needed if GSOC confirmed it had been bugged.
"We’re in unknown territory, because the Garda Obmudsman — which is meant to watch the watcher — apparently has been spied upon,” the deputy told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.
“If they do confirm that ‘yes, we were spied upon’ then the report from the consultancy company would need to be looked at.
“We may have an issue here where we need to find some international body to investigate this.”
Ministers were briefed on yesterday's meeting with GSOC by Minister Shatter this morning.
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
@Daragh McCauley: no, the previous study was that children are much more likely to die if hit by a normal car than a toy pedal powered car drive by a two year old.
@Daragh McCauley: Maybe if people weren’t on roads where cars are supposed to be, and made for, then there wouldn’t be any accidents or deaths.
I have SUV and it’s battery electric, not a gas guzzler, it’s quieter than a petrol car, and it has sensors that detects pedestrians, and cyclists, they pop up on the dash as icons and the car automatically slows down when the warning triggers.
The SUV couldn’t be safer for me, or for other users using the road.
Biggest issue is that people don’t know how to drive and speed needlessly which is shown every national slow down day.
There’s more to it than it’s bigger so it hurts more so lets ban it. That’s a lazy ideology.
@Daniel Skelton: Funny how pointing out basic road safety tech, the fact my SUV’s electric, and that reckless driving is a bigger issue than vehicle shape gets reduced to a Sharron comment. That’s the level we’re at?
Let me break it down for you:
My SUV’s not belching out fumes, so the “gas guzzler” line doesn’t apply.
It actively detects pedestrians and cyclists – probably more alert than half the drivers out there.
The problem isn’t just vehicle size. It’s speed, inattention, and poor driving – you know, things that are actually proven to cause accidents.
I didn’t say ignore the data. I said don’t cherry-pick it to push lazy bans instead of looking at the bigger picture.
And while we’re at it:
You want safer streets? Then campaign for stricter driving tests, real enforcement of speed limits, and proper cycling infrastructure – not headline-friendly bans that sound great until someone needs to carry a buggy, shopping and two kids through a storm in a Fiat Panda.
Not everyone driving an SUV is some road-hogging villain. Some of us made conscious decisions to go electric, to use tech that actually prevents accidents, and to drive responsibly.
Blaming the vehicle alone is like banning paper because someone cut their finger. It’s lazy, and it misses the point.
But hey, carry on with the memes if that’s all you’ve got. Some of us are trying to talk solutions while others are stuck in the comments section looking for cheap laughs.
@Daniel Skelton: it’s less than 800 characters, hardly an essay. You clearly have no intention of engaging in a conversation on the topic. Have a nice day.
@Fergus O’Donnell: ain’t no tosser like yourself going to tell me what to drive, my money my choice.
To many people like you trying to dictate others lives. You should just worry about you.
@Fergus O’Donnell: an SUV is for big families that need more space, not for off-road, that would be a 4×4 you’re talking about! People can drive what car/SUV/4×4 they choose, not what some hardman keyboard warrior wants, Bleeding clown!
@John Doe: These authoritarian Karen types just can’t fathom that other people don’t share their views. They feel a constant need to tell people what they “need” or don’t need. “Want” doesn’t even enter in to it for these freaks.
@Fergus O’Donnell: If its a vehicle involved in bringing your Amazon delivery,twice the height of an Suv, or a van, higher than an Suv “Tosser Less” or a truck or bus
@james dooley: No: ‘a key reason for the increased risk from SUVs is that they have a taller front end, which means a person is struck higher on their body’.
@james dooley: studies that prove the obvious are a way of fighting against dolts who refuse to listen to common sense when you try to impose any kind new policy.
@Brendan O’Brien: There’s also an issue regarding field of vision and blind spots, though I guess cameras and sensors are much more common on newer models.
They tested the driver view of the larger american types, by having kids lie down in front of them, and it wasn’t until the thirteenth kid that the driver could see one. They weren’t lengthwise, but still.
@Ronan Mc: unfortunately I would not as I have delta with many such incidents I’m my 25 plus years working frontline ambulance in Ireland and UK. Some fatal some were not
@thomas molloy: I remember a documentary from the noughties when an SUV driver in California boasted that his car would save him from an Earthquake while people driving small cars would get killed.
Imagine being toxic enough to tell the whole world something so heinous…that’s the mentality of many of them though.
@Max Power: Not necessarily, if you need to pull a heavy trailer with s heavy load, you need a car of a certain weight. Cheat sheet glued into doorframes like tyre charts.
Considering most new evs on the road are considerably heavier than their combustion engine counterparts and have SUV or crossover bodies does that mean they should be scrapped?
I certainly hope so, seeing 70-80% of such cars I encounter are driven by people who appear to be unable to stay within a car lane and are over the middle line on roads.
@Athena: Bollocks, I’ve seen plenty 3 series BMW’s, Insignias, Octavias etc. pulling caravans, horse boxes and trailers, unless you’re carrying heavy machinery you don’t need an SUV which probably 90% of people aren’t.
@Athena: Cars can legally tow anything as long as the weight doesn’t pass a certain amount, and if you do pass a certain amount you need a different license category anyway so an SUV still wouldn’t help in that case. Caravans not being a heavy load to you is mental they can be anywhere between 800kg and two tonnes. If we’re talking heavier, say a mini excavator you’d still have a hard time pulling that with an SUV anyway.
@DC: Zero clutches changed thankfully, as I don’t buy something if it’s got signs of a bad clutch or excess wear.
Also new cars aren’t immune from their problems, I drove the M50 daily for over a year and a half and the majority of cars I seen on the side of the road were no older than 2017. It was rare enough to see something older broke down.
Shame they had to do a survey to find this out, common sense really for road safety, a bit like ultra bright LED headlights, great for the user, not so much for everyone one else on the road
The governments and road safety quangos are responsible for the ballooning of car sizes over the years….. they have to be bigger generally across all size classes to conform to new safety standards and batteries for hybrids make the available internal space smaller again. I drive a small SUV but there’s no way you’d fit 5 (2 adult and 3 kids) and luggage in it…. people buy cars based on their needs, they’re likely taxed to the hilt for buying a bigger car so why not direct some of this at road safety…..instead of paying down EU debt…… rant over.
@RC247: and if an EV hit them, they’d be 100% more likely to die!! Serious weight in the old EV, which have an extortionate carbon footprint compared to a diesel car, but the government keep pushing this bull scutter for some reason……….. MONEY!!!
@den: the reason SUVs are dangerous is because of the height of the grill as much as anything else. It is the car style and size not the weight that is doing the most of the damage.
@Dermot Blaine: well can you explain why the government are pushing for everyone to buy electric cars? With the carbon footprint of these cars there is now way they are protecting the environment.
Same as the carbon footprint for the giant wind turbines, the amount of concrete and steel that goes into just the foundations and base is unbelievable, it’s production of green energy will never cancel its carbon footprint. EV’s are the same, never cancel their carbon footprint. Everyone with common sense knows this, so why are the government pushing EV’s so much. Please answer the question with a relevant answer, not PR government 5h1te!!! Thank you in advance
If a Range Rover hits you at 5km an hour you’ll survive. If a mini hits you at 80km you’re dust. Stupid research. SUV’s are the best. I love my bentayga
@Fergus O’Donnell: I do? You can get them in the UK for less than 50k and then fleece the VRT system by making them think my normal residence is outside Ireland by using a relatives address! Just because you don’t know how to get around things don’t assume I can’t. Don’t be jealous Fergus
I lost my father in a car accident, I was there. People will always die, the only way there can be 0 road dead is by eliminating all vehicles from the road, all of them. Back then, children died by horse and carriage accidents. The solution to reduce it to a minimum is not to penalise car owners but to build better roads and watch over your kids, accept personal responsibility too. If any, we should be driving faster, cars are safer, we can’t slow down but to connect bout infrastructure faster, hence the need for fast trains, metro and better road infrastructure to enable faster drive. The rest is on the parents’ responsibility.
@declan benson: it’s intuitive and widely understood but still should be studied. Local/national governments should (not that they do a lot of the time) base their policy on data. If say they decided to increase vrt on suv profile vehicles due to their higher emissions and safety, there is one more data source to back up the decision
We need a study to see if pencils are better than crayons for staying inside the lines when colouring in. I am all for useful studies that cost a lot of money.
This is the type of idea our top politicians come up with over their cornflakes or coco pops.
It is completely unworkable.
Do not blame the innocent breakfast cereals. Blame the copius amounts of sugar covering the already sweetened cereals.
It is something akin to a cocaine hit.
Incidently , Banning the sugar would probably save more lives than attempting to restrict SUV’s.
This effin weasel whines at everything, why don’t they have standards for purchasing such vehicles. People that are 4 or 5 foot nothing should only be allowed buy compact cars, the amount of midgies that can barely see over the wheel of larger vehicles is astounding, scrunched up faces with a fag stuck in the middle of the mouth, on the phone, slurping some sort of tasty beverage is where the problem lies…. Many have absolutely no spacial awareness and jam on the brakes with every oncoming car, truck etc….. Start with where the problem exists… Murph is anti everything & i personally can’t listen to a yoke that can’t even recognise gender & tries to ram THAT crap at you….. if i ever see him, i’ll park my suv on his tongue
Does he even know that electric cars are now bigger and heavier than any SUV. The whole problem is the standard of driving has dropped . Too many people that don’t know the rules are even care.
People cross streets looking at their phones. Don’t care about traffic stopping. Cross roads are now diagonal walk ways . Which if you do you can’t see the lights. Common sense seems to be gone . And this fool is on about SUVs hitting people. Have a look at tallaght buddy .
Have a look on YouTube for the video These Stupid Trucks are Literally Killing Us – the reason they even exist is a tax-dodge due to tariffs, they’re more dangerous for the occupants (despite what owners think), and for other road-users, and they’re less efficient than other vehicles. There is no reason for them to exist (outside of some farming/towing applications).
An often overlooked fact is that pedestrian behaviour is a major contributing factor in accidents involving pedestrians and all types of vehicles on the roads.
If you drive or operate any type of vehicle on the roads, then you know that many pedestrians act like their safety is everyone else’s responsibility, and that they seem to believe themselves to be immune to the danger that they put themselves in, when it is obvious that in any collision with any type of vehicle on the road and in a collision at any speed, that they are going to come out of it worst.
'I was told to f**k off to my country': Our readers on their experiences of racism in Ireland
3 hrs ago
2.5k
Quiz
Quiz: How much do you know about Ozzy Osbourne?
5 hrs ago
7.8k
16
As it happened
Australia v British & Irish Lions, second Test
Updated
14 hrs ago
53.1k
87
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 214 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage . Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework. The choices you make regarding the purposes and vendors listed in this notice are saved and stored locally on your device for a maximum duration of 1 year.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Social Media Cookies
These cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 149 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 195 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 158 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 119 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 120 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 51 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 48 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 177 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 78 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 111 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 116 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 51 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 65 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 36 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 122 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 126 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 94 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 67 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 116 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 103 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say