Mary Lou calls for response by former Garda chief on secret car park meeting during whistleblower controversy

MARY LOU McDONALD TD has called on former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan to explain his secret meeting with former Public Accounts Committee Chair John McGuinness in a hotel car park more than two years ago in which the police chief allegedly sought to undermine the credibility of Garda whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe.

Since the revelation, Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan has said that she was “not aware” of any private meeting between her predecessor and the Fianna Fáil TD.

The meeting took place on 24 January 2014 in the car park of Bewley’s Hotel on the Naas Road, six days before Sergeant McCabe appeared at a private session of the Public Accounts Committee.

The prominent Fianna Fáil TD is also under pressure over the fact that he took more than two years to reveal the secret rendezvous.

Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald, a former colleague of John McGuinness’s on the Public Accounts Committee, said she wasn’t aware of the meeting either.

She added:

“We need an immediate response from former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan on this issue.”