Paul Murphy Demands External Inquiry After Courtroom Exclusion
Paul Murphy raised concerns about the exclusion of the Taoiseach, members of the public, the press and witnesses from a courtroom on 13 October during the case of Ciarán Hartley. He criticised Gardaí for providing conflicting accounts and argued that an internal Garda inquiry is inadequate, calling for an external inquiry to establish what happened.
Courtroom exclusion incident
On 13 October the Taoiseach, members of the public, the press and witnesses for Ciarán Hartley, the defendant, were excluded from a district court hearing by Gardaí, according to the account given in the debate.
Conflicting official accounts and apology
Initial Garda explanations said they had been directed by the court and that a district court judge had ordered a voir dire and that nobody was to be allowed in. The court service stated the judge did not give such a direction and that the digital audio recording would confirm this. Gardaí later changed their account, accepting people had been inadvertently excluded and that a letter of apology had been issued to the judge.
Call for external inquiry
Paul Murphy asked the Taoiseach whether an internal inquiry by the Gardaí was adequate and said an external inquiry was necessary to find out how the exclusion happened and to ensure it cannot happen again. He framed the matter as a serious issue for justice when court proceedings are not open to the public.
Government response and role of GSOC
The Taoiseach said he was not familiar with the case and indicated that GSOC is available to consider such matters, suggesting that agencies responsible for standards should be used to pursue and resolve issues. He emphasised the role of independent agencies in completing inquiries and achieving early closure on enforcement and standards matters.
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On the 13th of October, Taoiseach, members of the public, the press and witnesses for Ciarán Hartley, who was the defendant, were excluded from a courtroom by Gardaí. In the case, Mr Hartley was making allegations of very serious Garda misconduct. At the time when the exclusion of the public from a courtroom was questioned, one Gardaí said that they had been directed by the court not to allow anyone in. The Garda press office said that the district court judge had made an order that a voir dire in this case was to be heard and therefore nobody was to be allowed in. The court service was clear that the judge did not give any direction to exclude the public and the digital audio recording of the court would confirm that. Last week, the Gardaí Chiakanah changed their story. They said that people had been inadvertently excluded from the courtroom and they accepted that this was not at the direction of the judge and they said that a letter of apology had been issued to the judge. The question is, it is quite a serious matter for the justice not to be done in public at the supposedly inadvertent decision of the Gardaí. Does the Taoiseach agree that an internal inquiry is entirely inadequate for this, an external inquiry is necessary to find out how this happened and to ensure it cannot happen again? In respect of Deputy Murphy, I am not familiar with the case at all and again, the level at which inquiries need to take place, whether it is internal or external, I mean GSOC is there. You seem to have been implicated at the Gardaí are doing an internal inquiry at the moment, is that the case? Okay, and I said it was inadvertent, is it? Okay, well then again, it's a matter for GSOC then if they wish to take that up or if people wish to refer that to GSOC, that's what GSOC is there. And I think my own view is that where we have agencies like GSOC and others, they should be used to pursue issues of this kind and to get them dealt with and get early closure in respect of such issues because we've put a lot of resources in behind agencies, enforcement agencies and so on. Agencies responsible for standards they need to do their work and to complete their job.
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