Journalists denied negative briefings about Maurice McCabe

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

Journalists Paul Williams, Paul Reynolds and Michael O’Toole denied receiving negative briefings about Sergeant Maurice McCabe, the Disclosures Tribunal heard.

The tribunal was examining former Garda press officer Superintendent Dave Taylor’s claim that former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan instructed him in mid-2013 to brief journalists negatively about McCabe, with the knowledge of Nóirín O’Sullivan. Taylor alleged that he was to link McCabe’s complaints about Garda malpractice to a 2006 allegation against him. In April 2007, the DPP found there was no basis for a prosecution. Callinan and O’Sullivan denied Taylor’s claims.

Williams said he was not negatively briefed by Taylor, O’Sullivan or Callinan. Reynolds denied Taylor’s claim that he had negatively briefed him. The proceedings concerning Reynolds were reported on 19 June 2018.

O’Toole claimed journalistic privilege but told the tribunal that nobody in the Garda Press Office had negatively briefed him about McCabe. He said the matter was of no interest to him after he learned of the DPP’s directions. The tribunal also heard that Juno McEnroe and other journalists were claiming privilege.