Áine Ryan
aineryan@mayonews.ie
MORE than a year after it caused a media storm, the report into the Corrib garda rape-tape debacle is due to be published today (Tuesday) by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC). A spokesman confirmed to The Mayo News yesterday that the report, which has already been sent to the Garda Commissioner, Martin Callinan, would be sent to other interested parties before it was made available to the public at large.
In an exclusive article last week, The Mayo News revealed that seven NUI Maynooth academics had written recently to the commission complaining about several aspects of the investigation, which centred on one of the university’s post-graduate students, Jerrie Ann Sullivan.
The public-interest investigation was initiated on April 5 last year after several gardaí were inadvertently taped joking about raping and deporting Ms Sullivan and another woman arrested on March 31 after an on-road protest at Aughoose, the site of sub-sea tunnel works for the controversial Corrib Gas Project. The women were not with the gardaí at the time of the offending conversation.
An interim report last July exonerated three of the gardaí and found no evidence of a criminal offence by any of them. It noted that the final report would address possible disciplinary issues in the case of two of the garda, one of whom, a sergeant, has retired in the interim. It is not known when the report will be made available to the public.
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