We need your help now
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.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
IT’S EXPECTED THE Sunday Times will publish further details tomorrow on the security sweep carried out last year at the Garda Ombudsman Commission’s Dublin offices. GSOC Chairman Simon O’Brien said as much himself on Wednesday, telling an Oireachtas committee he was expected another “early Sunday morning”.
The issue of what happened at the garda watchdog body’s offices, and the political handling of the emerging controversy made the headlines every day this week. Given the potential for more revelations tomorrow, and the fact that Justice Minister Alan Shatter’s due to appear before the same Oireachtas panel next week — it looks unlikely that the story will go away anytime soon.
If you haven’t been keeping up to date — here’s a quick run down of the main developments since last Sunday morning, with a particular focus on the disagreement that developed in the latter half of the week between Shatter and O’Brien.
[Photocall Ireland]
John Mooney of The Sunday Times broke the story, writing that a “sophisticated surveillance operation” was used to hack into emails, wi-fi and phone systems at GSOC’s Abbey Street building.
The Times reported:
The espionage was uncovered last year after GSOC hired a British security consultancy to investigate whether its headquarters in Abbey Street, Dublin, and its internal communications system were bugged.
There were immediate calls for Justice Minister Alan Shatter to clarify what had gone on, and to declare whether he had previously been aware of the UK firm’s security sweep.
Fianna Fáil’s justice spokesman Niall Collins said:
“The minister needs to come forward and explain whether he has spoken to the Ombudsman and whether he was aware of this surveillance.“If he was, he needs to explain why on Earth this was going on. If he wasn’t — we need to get answers very quickly on who is responsible.”
Justice Minister Alan Shatter called GSOC Chairman Simon O’Brien in for a meeting at the Department, and was given a written and oral briefing on the security sweep.
Various Cabinet members commented at press events throughout the day that what was being reported appeared “sinister”.
Simon O’Brien [Niall Carson/PA Wire]
In a statement that night , GSOC said that its database had not been compromised but that “three technical and electronic anomalies” were found that could not be “conclusively explained” when a security sweep of communications systems was carried out last year.
The statement also said there had been “no evidence of Garda misconduct”.
Later, Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan released a statement of his own — taking issue with that line:
“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.”
Alan Shatter told the Dáil that An Garda Síochána had been subject to “baseless innuendo” over the previous 48 hours, and said a narrative had emerged suggesting that the force had some involvement in surveillance at the GSOC offices.
The Minister said:
“It has not been established that the offices of the Ombudsman Commission were under surveillance.”
Later, Garda Ombudsman Commissioner Kieran Fitzgerald appeared on RTÉ’s Prime Time, and said that while there had been no “definitive evidence” of surveillance at the offices, he could not entirely rule it out either.
“It would be lovely to be able to say we could be certain one way or the other,” Fitzgerald said.
[Image: RTÉ Screengrab]
GSOC Chairman Simon O’Brien also held a meeting with Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan on Tueday to discuss developments to date, and to address Callinan’s issue with the previous night’s press statement.
GSOC Chairman Simon O’Brien appeared before the Oireachtas Public Oversight Committee.
He said that while there was no evidence of spying:
“I certainly suspect or potentially suspect that we may have been under some form of surveillance.”
Following the meeting, chairman of the committee (and Sinn Féin justice spokesman) Pádraig Mac Lochlainn TD said that the members had “grave concerns about some of the issues raised”.
The committee requested an unredacted copy of the report carried out by the UK security firm, and asked that the Justice Minister appear before the panel next week to give his take on the saga.
[Image: Oireachtas.ie]
Eamon Gilmore told the Dáil he was satisfied that no arm of the State had put the Garda Siochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) under surveillance.
The Tánaiste also described the surveillance claims as “serious” and said that the intention of the committee to speak to Shatter about the issue was “the right course of action”.
In a Prime Time interview that night, Shatter took issue with O’Brien’s comments before the oversight committee, and said the GSOC chairman’s public testimony had diverged from what he had been told in the pair’s meeting on Monday.
Shatter said that the information he gave to the Dáil had been “based entirely” on the oral and written briefing he’d received from O’Brien and on GSOC’s press release.
[Image: RTÉ Screengrab]
And when asked about the apparent differences between the two interpretations of what had happened, Shatter said:
“I’m very conscious that Mr O’Brien and the other members of GSOC were at a committee meeting for up to four hours and a series of questions were put to them.“During the course of that event there were different answers given with regard to particular issues.
“Indeed, some of what was said during the course of that seemed to me to be a little confused or contradictory.”
Shatter stressed that there had been nothing in the oral or written briefing or in the press statement that indicated O’Brien or other GSOC members believed they had been spied upon.
He also said he had written to the Commission, asking it to clarify if it believed it was under surveillance.
Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan made his first public comment since the bugging reports first emerged. In an appearance alongside Shatter at a garda event in Templemore, the force commander said he was satisfied no member of the gardaí had ever spied on GSOC:
“I want to unequivocally state that at no stage was any member of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission or any of its members under surveillance by An Garda Síochána.”
[Image: Garda Info]
At the same event, Shatter was asked by reporters to specifically state that he had full confidence in Simon O’Brien as GSOC chairman, after he had declined to do so on RTÉ the previous night.
The Minister replied:
“I have confidence in GSOC, I have confidence in the GSOC Commission. I’m not going to differentiate between individual members because it’s the commission and they make decisions collectively.”
Ireland’s very own Watergate, but we all know that the real perpretators will walk away scot free!
They will because no one has any idea who they are.
RTE needs to start up Nighthawks again!
If that happens then indeed Democracy and Law in Ireland are only a facade and I unreservedly apologize for defending the Guards and State in the past.
After this week, the idea of impartial justice, media and policing are lying in pieces on the floor.
I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it. – Thomas Jefferson
Has anybody asked the commissioner or the minister if the Garda have ever used this type of technology or indeed if they have access to it.
Watch, they can’t tell you that for operational reasons, officials secrets act and all that shite, it just show how stupid the guards really are, they should stick to putting people out of there homes and catching people for no tax on the vehekilllllllllllll, whistttttttt
Its another secret to be kept from the citizens by the gang cartel
ahhh harry :) was that you in paper last week. the victim again lol
You off your medication again harry?
One of them are going down. Either Shatter, Callinan, or O’ Brien. The scurrying for cover is well under way. My money is on O’ Brien. My preference would be Shatter or Callinan to get the boot.
Breathtaking! It only took the Garda Commissioner five days to conduct an investigation into bugging at the GSOC and he categorically states that there was no authorised OR unauthorised Garda involvement. ” Mick, were you involved? No sir! Ok then . Paddy, were you involved? No sir! Ok then . I’ll make my announcement and put this thing to bed. I’ll have to feed these bloody chickens that came home to roost !”
As said by a dead writer … O what a web we weave when we try to deceive.. well it fits the bugging of the GSOC offices` .The garda commissioner seems to think that we all are sheeple oh did i make a mistake there
Yes Harry, you made a mistake! The Poet Sir Walter Scott wrote in ‘Marmion’- ‘Oh what a tangled web weave, When first we practise to deceive!’ But sure seeing as most (sorry, make that ALL!) of what you write on here is crap, why should failing to quote a well known line from a poem be any different for you!
It’s all a big cover up , we will never know who planted the bug for sure , F.G and the Garda will make sure of that
Also on a very far fetched suggestion; gsoc is investigating two cases with international connotations;
The murder of Sophie Tuscon du Plantie which the French authorities want resolved.
The matter of suspected collusion between the Gardaí and ira, which the UK government are very interested in.
Both the French and British wouldn’t be in the junior leagues when it comes to intelligence gathering.
That is a very far fetched statement to think that the British or French would think there could possibly be any sort of intelligence in any Garda file is totally far fetched, intelligence and garda don’t go well in the one sentence
Grow up Lm. Everybody can see your deep hatred of the Gardai which shows inself that anything you say will be utter shite coming out your mouth.
Lm,,,, your intelligence is absolutely mind blowing, that skull of yours must be a pretty lonely place for that lone brain cell.
Let’s face it, you hate the GARDAI.
I wonder who you go crying to when you’re in trouble ? The Army, GSOC, Provos, ah yes, you’re a real gem !!
Anything positive going on there at all ????
Its interesting how the line from pro-establishment commentators has changed from ‘there was no bugging’ and the ‘GSOC bugged themselves’ to now it was the French that done it.
A study in the art of deflection and obfuscation in itself.
It must be very exciting at the press office briefings to anticipate what the red herring special of the day is going to be.
Keep up the good work interns.
The French dropped looking for Ian Bailey once they saw the evidence against him.
A hodge podge of supposition and made up testimony that has since been roundly debunked. They don’t have to listen in to GSOC to see he was framed.
The French have full access to all files and personnel, they do not need to bug it.
Is that you Boylan, where are you Rosslare or Dunlaoighre, hold on there and the lads will be out to give you a hand unload soon
Believe me and I swear on this, I do not hate the guards, I have very good friends who are in the guards who can’t wait for the pension to kick in, let’s face it they are a law onto themselves that can do what they want when they want, that what I don’t like about guards but I don’t hate them, I have my tax,insurance and licence up to date and that’s all that matters, so after that I am free to do whatever I want, legal or otherwise
Now Dominic you will be glad to know the word is out that the Sunday times is going to publish the report from the security company that done the sweep so that should bring clarification to some questions
Shatter is also minister of Defence, Army intelligence would have access to surveillance equipment. The Defence Forces regularly play a role in defence of state agencies from hacking.
Minister gets one agency (defence) to spy on gsoc to find out what gsoc knows about his other agency (Gardaí)
Far fetched, but plausible and deniable.
Not that far fetched at all. Probably what happened.
“I suspect or potentially suspect! ” how exactly do you potentially suspect something? You either do or you don’t. One can certainly be a potential suspect but the amount of spin these guys try to use is just shameful. Imagine where they’d be without their advisors, speech writers and press officers. Potentially defunct springs to mind.
I watched Watergate unfold, and this has the same taste to it. Deny, deny. Accuse the victim. Blame the press. Deny, deny.
I am confident that there are more people out there who have direct knowledge of this matter, and they will come forward.
Watergate took more than a year to blossom. John Dean didn’t start cooperating with the investigation for 11 months. It will take some time. There are differences, certainly. Your best hope is with the Dail and it is imperative that TDs keep up the pressure. The Sunday Times in all probability will have much more to say about this episode as well. Ireland being a relatively small country, things can move along more quickly than they did in America over the Watergate scandal.
We are living in interesting times.
We certainly are.
its a crazy world when Shatter cant ask people what they know, The politicians have just become embroiled in a web of lies among themselves and us ,the world would be a better place if people just stop lying faking and pretending.
Shatter desn’t ask because he is afraid they might answer and what does he do then.
We all know who was behind this subversion of democracy and law in the state.
Outside of that fact what is equally disturbing is the lack of concern by the Guards and Cabinet that a vital wing of the Justice system was under surveillance, probably illegal surveillance.
This is the most pointless story in years and years! So many more important newsworthy events occurred, in the past few weeks, that deserved air time more than this nonsensical event!!!
Another “investigation” if memory serves me well..
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/may/11/irish-journalists-police-monitoring
British publication explains how Shatter effectively controls Irish media.
http://www.cityam.com/article/ireland-shows-why-press-controls-are-not-solution#sthash.OinZrjI9.dpuf
Seamus that was an investigation into corrupt police officers giving information to the media for money. Are you saying the state should ignore this problem
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
Non-TCF/GVL Vendors
have your say