MINISTER FOR FOREIGN Affairs Helen McEntee has insisted she has always followed the legislation in relation to handling protected disclosures made by whistleblowers. 

McEntee has been under pressure this week to answer questions in relation to her time as justice minister when protected disclosures were made by gardaí.

Speaking to reporters today in New York, where she is attending the United Nations General Assembly, McEntee was again asked about how she handled a protected disclosure made by Detective Superintendent Brian O’Reilly in 2023. 

The disclosure related to irregularities in the firearms section of the gardaí. 

During Leaders’ questions last Thursday, Labour TD Alan Kelly accused McEntee of acting “without legal authority” in her handling of O’Reilly’s disclosure.

He said the minister “revealed Brian O’Reilly’s identity, thereby depriving him of the legal protections he was entitled to and exposing the nature of his allegations.

“In doing so, you acted without legal authority and directly interfered with a serious and significant protective disclosure.”

Kelly said he did not think McEntee did this deliberately but asked whether it was “incompetence or a mistake”.

Asked today if she overstepped the legal constraints that exist, McEntee said: 

“I have always adhered to the legislation. I have always adhered to the advice that’s provided to me.”

Separately, McEntee also gave an update on plans for an EU-backed peacekeeping mission to take the place of the current UN mission in Lebanon. 

McEntee said discussions are ongoing regarding the EU mission – which would require the removal of the triple lock for Irish involvement – but that it would not be of the “size or scale” of the current UN mission.

She said she expects a proposal to be voted on in the coming weeks at EU level.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is coming to an end in December after 48 years in the troubled Middle Eastern country.

The UN Security Council did not renew the mandate after the Netanyahu government in Israel pressured the United States to not support continuing the peacekeeping mission. 

Currently, more than 300 Irish soldiers are deployed with a multinational force on the ground across locations on the contested Lebanon/Israel border. 

As reported by The Journal earlier this month, the EU mission is likely to involve civilian assistance to the Lebanese government, border security and military personnel.

9/11 memorial

Elsewhere, McEntee visited the 9/11 memorial and museum in downtown New York on Tuesday afternoon, where she laid a wreath to mark the 25th anniversary of the attack, in which 2,977 people were killed.

While there, she met with representatives of the NYPD and FDNY Emerald Societies.

McEntee noted that at least 18 Irish people were among the dead and said it was a privilege to pay her respects at the memorial. 

“The many Irish names among those who died, including Irish-American first responders, are a powerful reminder of the depth of the bonds between Ireland and New York,” she said. 

The minister was welcomed to the memorial by Irish American Sean Egan, who was five years old when his father, FDNY Captain  Martin J. Egan Jr., was killed in the 11 September attacks. 

Captain Egan was a 15-year veteran of the New York City Fire Department at the time of his death.