Donegal Daily
  • News
  • Sport
    • Sport

      Invaluable words of wisdom given at DSP’s…

      7 hours ago

      GAA

      GAA: Donegal U20s squeeze past Antrim to…

      17 hours ago

      Football

      Donegal schoolboy left star-struck after close encounter…

      24 hours ago

      Athletics

      Athletics: Byrne and McConnell show their class…

      1 day ago

      Athletics

      Athletics: Byrne and McConnell show their class…

      1 day ago

      Athletics

      Countdown is on to ATU Donegal 5k…

      5 days ago

      Athletics

      Letterkenny AC’s Fit4Life programme – a chance…

      6 days ago

      Athletics

      North West 10k proceeds to make a…

      1 week ago

      Boxing

      Boxing: Three more finals in North West…

      2 days ago

      Boxing

      Boxing: ‘I’d love a crack at a…

      3 days ago

      Boxing

      Boxing: Carndonagh BC to host North West…

      1 week ago

      Boxing

      Quigley’s home return to be a sell-out,…

      1 month ago

      Football

      Donegal schoolboy left star-struck after close encounter…

      24 hours ago

      Football

      Harps’ Da Silva named on LOI Team…

      2 days ago

      Football

      Coleman says Ireland have set a marker…

      2 days ago

      Football

      Inishowen League: Hearts win top of the…

      4 days ago

      GAA

      GAA: Donegal U20s squeeze past Antrim to…

      17 hours ago

      GAA

      O’Rourke to take charge of Donegal for…

      2 days ago

      GAA

      Pic special: Presentation of prizes in St…

      2 days ago

      GAA

      Kerry legend Gooch claims Donegal players “let…

      3 days ago

      Golf

      Rosapenna again named among world’s best golf…

      6 days ago

      Golf

      Golf club to host fundraising quiz in…

      2 weeks ago

      Golf

      Donegal ETB Golf Society in full swing…

      4 weeks ago

      Golf

      Beachcomber Bar Golf Society enjoy first outing…

      1 month ago

      Hockey

      Hockey: Raphoe victorious in Linden Cup Final…

      4 days ago

      Hockey

      Hard-fought win sees Raphoe close in on…

      2 weeks ago

      Hockey

      Hockey: Raphoe top league after 3-1 win…

      1 month ago

      Hockey

      Hockey – Unconvincing win for new league…

      2 months ago

      Hurling

      ‘Nothing nicer than a one-point victory’ –…

      5 days ago

      Hurling

      Donegal Hurlers clinch league final spot

      5 days ago

      Hurling

      Donegal hurlers seal semi-final spot with narrow…

      2 weeks ago

      GAA

      Setanta duo presented with Ulster club All-Star…

      2 weeks ago

      Rugby

      Sadhbh McGrath (18) to make senior Ireland…

      6 days ago

      Rugby

      Anne Scott receives IRFU Spirit of Rugby…

      1 week ago

      Rugby

      Free pizza! Six Nations fundraiser to float…

      1 month ago

      Rugby

      Monaghan Rugby Club donate €1,200 to Creeslough…

      2 months ago

  • Courts
  • Jobs
  • Travel
  • Features
  • Business
  • Property
  • Council News
  • Politics
  • More
    • Advertise with us
    • Haircare
    • Cooking
    • DD Pets
    • Hairdressing
    • Motors
Thursday 13°CFriday 10°C

Donegal Daily Donegal Daily

  • News
  • Sport
    • Sport

      Invaluable words of wisdom given at DSP’s…

      7 hours ago

      GAA

      GAA: Donegal U20s squeeze past Antrim to…

      17 hours ago

      Football

      Donegal schoolboy left star-struck after close encounter…

      24 hours ago

      Athletics

      Athletics: Byrne and McConnell show their class…

      1 day ago

      Athletics

      Athletics: Byrne and McConnell show their class…

      1 day ago

      Athletics

      Countdown is on to ATU Donegal 5k…

      5 days ago

      Athletics

      Letterkenny AC’s Fit4Life programme – a chance…

      6 days ago

      Athletics

      North West 10k proceeds to make a…

      1 week ago

      Boxing

      Boxing: Three more finals in North West…

      2 days ago

      Boxing

      Boxing: ‘I’d love a crack at a…

      3 days ago

      Boxing

      Boxing: Carndonagh BC to host North West…

      1 week ago

      Boxing

      Quigley’s home return to be a sell-out,…

      1 month ago

      Football

      Donegal schoolboy left star-struck after close encounter…

      24 hours ago

      Football

      Harps’ Da Silva named on LOI Team…

      2 days ago

      Football

      Coleman says Ireland have set a marker…

      2 days ago

      Football

      Inishowen League: Hearts win top of the…

      4 days ago

      GAA

      GAA: Donegal U20s squeeze past Antrim to…

      17 hours ago

      GAA

      O’Rourke to take charge of Donegal for…

      2 days ago

      GAA

      Pic special: Presentation of prizes in St…

      2 days ago

      GAA

      Kerry legend Gooch claims Donegal players “let…

      3 days ago

      Golf

      Rosapenna again named among world’s best golf…

      6 days ago

      Golf

      Golf club to host fundraising quiz in…

      2 weeks ago

      Golf

      Donegal ETB Golf Society in full swing…

      4 weeks ago

      Golf

      Beachcomber Bar Golf Society enjoy first outing…

      1 month ago

      Hockey

      Hockey: Raphoe victorious in Linden Cup Final…

      4 days ago

      Hockey

      Hard-fought win sees Raphoe close in on…

      2 weeks ago

      Hockey

      Hockey: Raphoe top league after 3-1 win…

      1 month ago

      Hockey

      Hockey – Unconvincing win for new league…

      2 months ago

      Hurling

      ‘Nothing nicer than a one-point victory’ –…

      5 days ago

      Hurling

      Donegal Hurlers clinch league final spot

      5 days ago

      Hurling

      Donegal hurlers seal semi-final spot with narrow…

      2 weeks ago

      GAA

      Setanta duo presented with Ulster club All-Star…

      2 weeks ago

      Rugby

      Sadhbh McGrath (18) to make senior Ireland…

      6 days ago

      Rugby

      Anne Scott receives IRFU Spirit of Rugby…

      1 week ago

      Rugby

      Free pizza! Six Nations fundraiser to float…

      1 month ago

      Rugby

      Monaghan Rugby Club donate €1,200 to Creeslough…

      2 months ago

  • Courts
  • Jobs
  • Travel
  • Features
  • Business
  • Property
  • Council News
  • Politics
  • More
    • Advertise with us
    • Haircare
    • Cooking
    • DD Pets
    • Hairdressing
    • Motors
News

BUGGED! LETTERKENNY GARDA STATION PHONE CALLS WERE ALL TAPED

written by John2 March 25, 2014
FacebookTweetLinkedInPrint

garda station newspixirlEXCLUSIVE: LETTERKENNY Garda Station phone calls were systematically bugged, Donegal Daily has learned.

Calls into and out of the station for at least three decades were recorded and tapes and discs containing those conversations were kept.

The control over how this happened was retained in Dublin and not at Letterkenny Garda Station.

The shock revelation comes just hours after the Government was thrown into a new crisis over an admission that calls to and from some Garda station were being illegally recorded. The statement did not identify any of those stations but Donegal Daily has learned Letterkenny was one of them.

Members of the local legal profession have told Donegal Daily that the revelations here could have serious implications for cases, especially if phone calls between solicitors and clients being held at the station were recorded.

The Government has set up a statutory Commission of Investigation after learning that “a system was in place in a large number of garda stations whereby incoming and outgoing telephone calls were taped and recorded.”

In a statement, the Government also said: “From the information available, the practice of making recordings was in place for many years and was discontinued in November of 2013.

“It is not yet clear why this practice was in operation.”

Recordings began in the 1980s and continued until five months ago, being replaced by a digital system in 2008.

Minister Alan Shatter claims he was unaware of this until yesterday, even though the practice was referred to in a Garda Ombudsman report last June – and the Attorney General was told about it last November.

All ‘999’ emergency calls are taped, but the taping of calls into and out of Letterkenny Garda Station was illegal.

“If the inquiry finds that confidential telephone conversations between solicitors and their clients were recorded, it is a serious breach of civil liberties,” one leading local solicitor told us.

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties agreed.

It has called on the Government to “stop the rot” by equipping its new statutory Commission of Investigation with terms of reference to examine the full spectrum of Garda accountability issues that has arisen in recent weeks. The ICCL considers that today’s revelations regarding the recording of calls to and from Garda stations may have grave ramifications for the administration of justice.

The Council has also welcomed the Government’s announcement that it will establish an independent Garda Authority, describing it as a “long overdue development”.

ICCL Director Mr Mark Kelly said: “For weeks, the ICCL has been calling for the creation of a proper statutory inquiry with the fact-finding powers necessary to restore public trust in the accountability of An Garda Síochána.

“Instead, the Government has chosen to refer each successive crisis to a different non-judicial mechanism, none of which has been granted the power comprehensively to establish the truth. Today’s revelations regarding the recording of calls to and from Garda stations may have grave ramifications for the administration of justice and this is the day when the rot must stop”.

“The vital process of restoring public trust in the accountability of An Garda Síochána must begin today, with the creation of an inquiry under the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004 legally empowered to examine and report upon the full spectrum of Garda accountability issues that has arisen in recent weeks. The ICCL recommends that the work of the Cooke and Guerin inquiries, as well as the review commenced by the Oireachtas Committee on Justice and Equality should be subsumed into a new judge-led statutory inquiry without delay”, Mr Kelly added.

Commenting on the Government’s announcement that it will establish an independent Garda Authority, Mr Kelly said: “The creation of an independent Garda Authority is a development for which the ICCL has been calling since the introduction of the Garda Act 2005. The Government’s announcement today that it recognises and will address this significant gap in our system of Garda accountability is welcome, if long overdue.”

 

BUGGED! LETTERKENNY GARDA STATION PHONE CALLS WERE ALL TAPED was last modified: March 26th, 2014 by John2
FacebookTweetLinkedInPrint

Tags:
buggedLetterkenny Garda station
John2

LEAVE A COMMENT

You may also like

Third Public Consultation to be held for...

10 mins ago

All smiles at the ATU Donegal Student...

12 mins ago

Creeslough to unveil memorial for computing pioneer...

1 hour ago

Volunteers sought for new additional needs ‘Saturday...

2 hours ago

McGinty Tractors Open day to pull in...

3 hours ago

Two Laura Brennan HPV catch-up clinics announced...

4 hours ago

Review underway into Donegal IFA election

4 hours ago

Garda Sergeant finally gets his cake after...

5 hours ago

Work on Dunfanaghy’s long-awaited Primary Healthcare Centre...

5 hours ago

Pope Francis hospitalised with respiratory infection

5 hours ago
Advertisement
Advertisement

MOST POPULAR

Donegal County Council
Advertisement

Sport Hub

  • Stay up to date with Donegal Sport Hub on Facebook

    1 year ago
  • Donegal links rank in Top 100 Golf Courses in the World

    1 year ago
  • Bundoran 10 Event set for March 2022

    1 year ago
See More

Donegal Woman

    See More

    Columnists

    Group Holidays - Travel Department

    Travel: Top 10 things to do in Rome

    3 days ago

    Motoring - Brian McDaid

    Brian McDaid: Walk the line . . . ten years on

    4 days ago

    Career Advice - Rory White

    Career Guidance: How to make your Leaving Cert subject choice a success

    1 month ago

    Healthy Living - Sorcha McElchar

    Burns overcomes challenge of Donegal man Erskine to become GAA President

    1 month ago

    Rethink Money - Sean McNulty

    DD Money: 15 Christmas spending tips: How to save money this holiday season

    3 months ago

    See All Columnists
    Advertisement
    Donegal Daily Jobs

    Read More

    • News
    • Sport
    • Courts
    • Jobs
    • Sales & Services
    • Obituaries
    • Features
    • Business
    • Politics
    • Council News

    Information

    • Contact Us
    • About
    • Advertise WIth Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
    • Terms & Conditions

    Our Sites

    Donegal Woman
    Donegal Woman
    Donegal Daily

    © 2023 Donegal Daily. All rights reserved.
    Website by owenod


    Back To Top.