2 Sept 2014

Dublin: Garda Links To Paramilitary Groups, Criminals Raises Public Concerns Over Pulse Computer System Security

A garda believed to have given information to a senior figure in the Continuity IRA resigned from the force earlier this year after an internal inquiry into the incident.
The female garda had been stationed in Leinster.
Gardaí began the inquiry after they suspected she had texted the dissident republican the names of two men who had been arrested in connection with the discovery of a homemade bomb.
Gardaí intercepted the device and the Army Bomb Disposal Team was called in to make it safe.
The garda was interviewed about the suspected disclosure of confidential information and subsequently resigned but the incident is still the subject of a criminal investigation.
She had been associating with a member of the Continuity IRA who is well known to gardaí and the PSNI.
He has a number of previous convictions and served a lengthy jail sentence for explosives offences.
The internal investigation is understood to have established that the garda discovered the names of two people who were being detained in a garda station and how long they were to be questioned for and passed that information on to her associate in the Continuity IRA.
Garda sources say they became aware of this information through their own intelligence, not through MI5 or the PSNI, and immediately began an internal investigation.
However the UK and British security services are now aware of the matter.
Senior gardaí do not believe that the female garda, who has less than ten years service in the force, had access to high-level confidential information.
She is also currently the subject of a separate criminal investigation following an alleged assault earlier this year.
The interim Garda Commissioner is finalising a report on the matter for the Minister for Justice.
*A garda accused of theft and assault is due to go on trial at the end of the year.
Padraig Dennehy, who is stationed at Mountjoy Garda Station, is accused of assaulting a man and stealing €6.25 at Parnell Square West in Dublin on 3 March 2013.
The charges follow an investigation by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.
The case is now due to be heard in December.
*A person with a "stellar track record as a transformational leader" in a large, complex organisation is being sought to lead the Department of Justice.
A three-week window is being set to find the replacement for outgoing secretary general, Brian Purcell, who agreed to step aside following a damning external audit of his department.
The Toland review, published at the end of July, found a department with a “closed, secretive and silo-driven culture” and “significant leadership and management problems”.
It said management structures and processes were “ineffective” in holding agencies, such as the gardaí, to account.
The jobs spec for the position — put up in recent days on publicjobs.ie — sets out who the Government is looking for. “The ideal candidate for this role will have a stellar track record as a transformational leader in a large, complex organisation.”
The Public Appointments Service, which will carry out the interview process, said it “will also consider” expressions of interest from serving secretaries general.
It pointed out the difficult context for the department. “The justice sector in Ireland is coming through a tumultuous period, the details of which have been widely covered in the media.”
It said, in light of the Toland review “a major programme of transformation is to be implemented”.
The secretary general, in conjunction with the senior management team, would be responsible for developing, leading and ensuring the completion of a detailed transformation programme within the department. The spec said a person of “exceptional calibre” was wanted for the job.
The person would “galvanise the department and its people around a significant change agenda, and shape the future of the sector; whilst managing the ongoing significant, complex operations of the department and providing policy advice to the minister”.
The position attracts an annual, pensionable salary, of €176,350, or €185,350 if the person has his/her own pension.

No comments:

Post a Comment