Fionnan Sheahan denies paedophile allegation at tribunal

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Fionnan Sheahan denied an allegation that he called Sergeant Maurice McCabe a paedophile at the Disclosures Tribunal on 15 June 2018.

The allegation concerned a conversation with former Sunday Independent editor Anne Harris in September 2014. Sheahan said his actions at the time, including commissioning coverage of penalty-point allegations and advocating positive reporting about McCabe, contradicted the claim.

Sheahan said he had heard general political discussion about an allegation concerning McCabe, but said it was not founded in fact. He also disputed Harris’s account and said he believed she was confused and motivated by a grudge.

The tribunal was examining a claim of a smear campaign against McCabe. Former Irish Independent editor Claire Grady separately described her initial scepticism about an article concerning a 2006 allegation against McCabe, which had been dismissed by the DPP.