THE GARDA OMBUDSMAN Commission (GSOC) has said it has already investigated some of the allegations of garda malpractice raised by Sinn Féin TD Martin Kenny in the Dáil yesterday.

Addressing TDs in the chamber yesterday, Kenny claimed an informant told him that he was asked by a garda to carry out a burglary at the TD’s home.

He accused gardaí in the Sligo-Leitrim division of engaging active criminals as informants, running their own informants outside of the formal scheme, using informants to entrap people and protecting “rogue gardaí” with secrecy and denial.

Missing man Pat Heeran

Kenny raised concerns about the investigation into missing Leitrim man Pat Heeran, alleging senior gardaí dismissed the possibility that something sinister may have happened to him.

“After some time, when garda management finally agreed to seal off and examine the house, they found it had been burgled in the meantime and was therefore forensically violated for the purpose of evidence gathering,” he said.

“There were also a number of individuals with links to Pat Heeran who the investigation team never even questioned – to the dismay of local gardaí.”

It is now known that a garda informant was among the last people to be in Pat Heeran’s company before he disappeared.

Concern

Responding to the numerous claims made by Kenny, GSOC said it had “listened with concern to the matters brought before the public domain”.

“A small number of the cases listed by Deputy Kenny have either already been investigated by GSOC, or are currently under investigation,” it added. However the ombudsman declined to comment on the investigation of any of the specific cases.

The Ombudsman Commission has arranged a meeting with Kenny next week to discuss the matters he has raised.

Read: Leitrim TD claims gardaí asked informant to carry out burglary at his house>

Read: Policing Authority expresses ‘deep unease’ at garda management culture>