Some witnesses have supported allegations of the systematic destruction of garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe's character, the tribunal investigating an alleged smear campaign against him has heard.
These witnesses included some journalists, who had assisted the tribunal and disclosed conversations with former garda commissioner, Martin Callinan.
Tribunal lawyers outlined the progress the tribunal has made so far in a lengthy opening statement.
The Disclosures Tribunal, chaired by Supreme Court Judge Peter Charleton, is examining allegations that senior gardaí were involved in a smear campaign against Sgt McCabe.
Senior Counsel Diarmaid McGuinness outlined an overview of the tribunal's progress so far to Mr Justice Charleton.
He said the central issue was the treatment of Sgt McCabe by senior officers.
He said the former Garda Press Officer, Superintendent David Taylor, had alleged that the current Garda Commissioner, Nóirín O'Sullivan, and her predecessor Mr Callinan had abused their position of authority and their standing within the community as unimpeachable sources of reliable information, to damnify the character of Sgt McCabe.
He said by virtue of Mr Taylor's rank and position, his say on matters would have carried particular weight.
He said that if Mr Taylor had sought to misrepresent the facts, acting under his own motivation, that would have been shocking enough.
But he said that it would be even more shocking if those directing the national police force at the very highest level had ignored everything they were taught in relation to appropriate behaviour and resorted instead to adopting a culture of deceit to destroy those, who it was thought, were making life uncomfortable for them.
Mr McGuinness said the tribunal had scrutinised the media in all its formats but there was no mention in any published source that any professional organisation at the time, took up and ran with the information supposedly disseminated by Mr Taylor.
He said allegations of the systematic destruction of Sgt McCabe's character were supported by some witnesses to the tribunal.
These included some journalists who had come forward to assist the tribunal by disclosing conversations they had with former commissioner Callinan at the time.
He said these were vehemently denied by Mr Callinan.
One of the allegations related to a conversation in January 2014 in a hotel car park between the then-chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, John McGuinness and Mr Callinan.
Mr McGuinness said that if this had occurred, it would perhaps indicate, inappropriate comment, and it could be inferred that Mr Callinan had the motivation and emotional charge to attack Mr McCabe's character and instruct his press officer to do likewise.
Mr McGuinness said then assistant commissioner O'Sullivan appears not to have known about the meeting.
He said there was no direct evidence from any witness that Commissioner O'Sullivan spread unpleasant or nasty comments about any officer.
But Mr McGuinness told Mr Justice Charleton that he must ask the question, if it happened, how could it be that the person who worked most closely with Mr Callinan at that time could not have known of the state of mind that he had allegedly described in graphic terms to others.
However he said the information could have been limited or targeted to certain confidantes.
Mr McGuinness said the Forensic Service of Northern Ireland was currently investigating and analysing if the issue was supported by telecommunications interaction between Supt Taylor, former commissioner Callinan and Commissioner O'Sullivan.
Mr McGuinness also said that the inclusion of a false serious allegation of sexual assault by Mr McCabe against a young girl in a report by a Health Service Executive counselling service was described by the agencies involved as an unfortunate error.
He said the HSE and Child and Family Agency, Tusla, said they had no connection with and received no direction from Garda Headquarters.
He said the counsellor involved, from the Ryan agency, had said what had happened was a word processing error and a genuine mistake.
An allegation had been made against Mr McCabe in 2006 in relation to an alleged sexual assault in 1998.
The Director of Public Prosecutions had decided in 2007 there was no basis for a prosecution.
However in 2013 the girl involved went back to counselling for a separate matter.
The counsellor said that when she was preparing her report, she used a word processing template and incorrectly included details of a much more serious allegation of abuse made by a different client in a completely different, unrelated case.
When this was brought to the counsellor's attention in 2014, she made attempts to rectify the situation but the allegations were forwarded to gardaí and later put to Sgt McCabe.
Mr McGuinness said Mr Justice Charleton would have to decide if the gardaí and State agencies had deliberately sought to blacken Sgt McCabe's name by making allegations resurface at a time when he was a public figure.
Alternatively, Mr McGuinness said the judge would have to consider if a genuine mistake was made in forwarding the allegations in 2014 and then compounded by a further series of errors in 2015 and 2016.
He said the counselling agency, the HSE and Tusla would all claim that what had happened was a result of a series of genuine errors.
He said all the Tusla witnesses had said they had no knowledge or evidence of it being part of an overall aim by State agencies of discrediting Sgt McCabe and destroying his reputation.
Mr McGuinness said the judge would also have to consider whether more than one garda officer had been made the subject of inappropriate attention of social workers in consequence of an allegation involving allegedly inappropriate behaviour with children.
He said the judge would have to consider if two garda officers being dragged into this sphere was justified or carelessness or more evidence of conspiracy.
Callinan, O'Sullivan raise concerns over Taylor's protected disclosure, tribunal told
The tribunal lawyers said both Mr Callinan and Ms O'Sullivan had raised concerns about the lack of detail in Supt Taylor's protected disclosure.
The tribunal lawyers said these concerns may be legitimate.
They said they had asked Supt Taylor for more detail and he had said he needed access to his emails and phones. He also said instructions given to him were always verbal and never in writing.
Mr Justice Charleton was told there were 15 phones connected to Supt Taylor, former commissioner Callinan and Commissioner O'Sullivan, which were of interest to the tribunal but only four had been located by gardaí.
Senior Counsel, Pat Marrinan said the height of the allegation made against Commissioner O'Sullivan by Supt Taylor was that she was aware of commissioner Callinan's instructions.
He said it was not suggested or implied that she issued orders to spread misinformation about Sgt McCabe.
He said the tribunal had still not received specific details of the times Supt Taylor spoke to journalists, what was said, and why he cannot now remember it.
Mr Marrinan said Supt Taylor had provided the tribunal with a waiver of any journalistic privilege and was not claiming privilege over his identification as the source of any information to journalists relating to Sgt McCabe.
Similar waivers had been signed by Ms O'Sullivan and Mr Callinan.
Mr Marrinan said a number of journalists had been written to but he said with a few exceptions they had ignored the letters or refused to answer questions posed by the tribunal.
The tribunal was told that RTÉ journalist Philip Boucher-Hayes, John McGuinness TD and the Comptroller and Auditor General, Seamus McCarthy had all given statements to the tribunal alleging that Mr Callinan had separately made negative remarks to them about Sgt McCabe's character, that he was not to be trusted and that there were allegations of sexual offences against him.
But in each case Mr Callinan had denied raising the issue.
Supt Taylor also alleged that the commissioner described Sgt McCabe as a "kiddie fiddler" in a conversation with Deputy McGuinness after a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee in January 2014. This is denied by Mr Callinan.
Mr Marrinan said Mr Callinan vehemently denied all the allegations against him.
He said there were substantially different accounts of the same incidents being given by those involved.
He said it was hoped to hold hearings on this matter in October and November of this year to explore the contradictions.
The tribunal is also investigating whether or not briefing material prepared in Garda Headquarters influenced or attempted to influence broadcasts on RTÉ in May 2016, in which Sgt McCabe was described as a liar.
Mr Marrinan said that while the word lie did not appear in relation to Sgt McCabe in the report of the O'Higgins Commission, an equivalent expression did occur at one point.
He said that in the context of the findings of the Commission in favour of Sgt McCabe's complaints it was a very small matter. And he said one would wonder, in the context of a 362 page report, how a journalist might manage to find this one flaw.
The tribunal was also told that Commissioner O'Sullivan has waived privilege over instructions she gave her legal team during the O'Higgins Commission hearings.
Mr Marrinan told Mr Justice Charleton this should make his task considerably easier.
Finally, Mr Marrinan said it did not seem to the tribunal lawyers that there was any blanket privilege protecting journalists' sources.
He said journalists did have a privilege against the disclosure of sources but this depended on the facts and it may be overridden.
He said the notion that there was no smoke without fire was a very powerful one and people against whom unjustified allegations of sexual violence were made had cause for complaint.
But he asked if these allegations were not also serious and may lead people to conclude that those at the top in garda headquarters were engaged in determined efforts to destroy someone who undermined the notion that gardaí could do no wrong.
He asked if there was a situation here of overriding public interest in seeking out the truth.
The tribunal is due to begin public hearings in early July.
The first hearings will deal with the Rian Counselling service, the HSE and the Child and Family Agency.
The tribunal is now adjourned until 4 July next.
