Garda whistleblower to sue force over arrest by armed officers during football match

Irish Times

23-04-2025

A former garda who was arrested by the
Emergency Response Unit
(ERU) as he took part in a football match with friends is to sue the force.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is taking a case against Garda Commissioner
Drew Harris
on a number of grounds, including the circumstances of his arrest.
The case also claims breaches of the Protected Disclosures Act relating to whistleblower claims the man made about
allegedly defective gun holsters
acquired by
An Garda Síochána
.
It is the ex-garda's case that he was penalised for acting as a whistleblower in relation to the holsters, which he said posed a serious safety risk to users.
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The matter has been the subject of several protected disclosures and has been raised in the Dáil on multiple occasions. It has also been referred to the
Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission
, which is now known as Fiosrú.
The whistleblower is facing trial in the Circuit Criminal Court on a number of serious charges relating to alleged weapons offences. He denies all charges.
In 2020, following an investigation into these matters, heavily armed officers from the ERU, a specialised garda unit used in high-risk operations, launched an operation to arrest the man, who was still serving as a garda at the time.
ERU officers moved in and detained the man as he was taking part in a football match in a Dublin park with friends.
It is understood the man initially thought it was a prank and that he knew some of the officers taking part in the operation.
Sources said ERU officers were directed to arrest him in public instead of at his home to avoid any risk of a siege.
The man will claim in the High Court that he was the subject of a wrongful arrest and that the manner of the detention was a gross overreaction.
The case was lodged in the High Court on April 11th. He is being represented by Belfast-based solicitor Kevin Winters.
He will also allege he is being punished for acting as a whistleblower regarding the holsters. He first raised concerns about the leather holsters, which were manufactured by an Irish saddlery company, in 2019.
During a recent Dáil debate, Labour TD
Alan Kelly
held up one of the leather holsters, which have since been removed from Garda service.
He said the Garda National Technical Bureau had found the holster to be 'dangerously defective' and that it was capable of engaging the gun's trigger, causing it to fire.
The technical examination was carried out in 2020 after a garda assigned to protection duty at the Israeli embassy suffered serious injuries when his weapon accidentally discharged. That garda has also sued the force in relation to the incident.
The same type of holster was being used by
Garda Colm Horkan
one week later when he was shot dead with his own weapon while on patrol in Castlerea, Co Roscommon.
Stephen Silver
shot Garda Horkan 11 times after removing the handgun from its holster during a struggle. In 2023, he was jailed for life.
Earlier this month, Mr Kelly asked Minister for Justice
Jim O'Callaghan
why Garda Horkan's holster was not forensically examined by ballistics experts after the incident, despite being bagged and taken away as evidence.
He said there is no doubt Silver is responsible for Garda Horkan's murder, but that 'the question must be asked whether the defective holster should have been investigated for that incident as well'.
In 2023, Mr Harris announced the force had acquired a new type of holster which makes it more difficult for gardaí to be disarmed by suspects.