Garda leaks to sections of the print media

national | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis Friday July 12, 2013 17:23 by Maura Doyle

A lot has been written about the Michael McKevitt case over the years since his incarceration in 2001. Whether his reputation as an unrepentant republican is palatable to many people or not, he has endured the wrath of a very vicious print media campaign throughout that time and even before. We overlook the fact that the media onslaught was also waged against his entire family without any justification whatsoever and the standards used against them fell well below anything that we could even attempt to describe as 'normal practice'.

I always felt that many of the sensationalist type articles printed in that case were baseless and lacked creditability. Because of the interesting article by I. Green (30 June 2013) it confirmed to me that a deliberate vilification campaign was used extensively against that family in an attempt to isolate them within their community.

Some months back I had a discussion with a source close to the McKevitt family, and afterwards details of the media onslaught against them were reignited in my mind. To my horror, I find that like many other high profile and questionable cases that has unfolded in recent times, the McKevitt case appears to have been the victim of deliberate propaganda leaks to sections of the print media from sources within the Gardai. During the conversation, the subject of Michael's incarceration came up. One aspect in particular caught my attention after been told of regular meetings, which took place in a south Drogheda hotel between a journalist and some senior members of the Gardai. It was pointed out to me that a few years back the family were approached by an employee of the hotel and told of frequent meetings that had taken place between two senior members of the Gardai and a journalist from a well-known daily tabloid. According to the source, the family was given the names of both Gardai as well as the journalist who works as a security correspondent with 'The Star' newspaper. Although the name of the journalist was revealed, they didn't divulge details of the Gardai involved, even though I believe that one held the rank of Superintendent based in the Louth Meath division at that time. The family was informed that the regular topic during those meetings was generally based around Michael McKevitt.

The revelation on the alleged hotel meetings appears to be in line with similar allegations mounting against the Gardai, some of which have emerged in the recent Garda Ombudsman's report into irregularities within the force over many decades which included unauthorised leaks to the media.