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High Court Rejects Challenge To New Garda Commissioner's Appointment

The High Court has dismissed a legal challenge against the appointment of the new Garda Commissioner...
TodayFM
TodayFM

1:56 PM - 22 Aug 2018



High Court Rejects Challenge T...

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High Court Rejects Challenge To New Garda Commissioner's Appointment

TodayFM
TodayFM

1:56 PM - 22 Aug 2018



The High Court has dismissed a legal challenge against the appointment of the new Garda Commissioner Drew Harris.

The legal action was taken by Belfast man and campaigner Ciaran MacAirt, whose grandmother was killed during the troubles.

Ciaran MacAirt’s grandmother Kathleen Irvine was one of 15 people killed when a loyalist bomb exploded at McGurk’s Bar in Belfast in December 1971.

Mr MacAirt had asked the High Court to judicially review the Irish Government’s decision to appoint Drew Harris as the new Garda Commissioner.

The former Deputy Chief Constable of the PSNI is due to take up the position next month.

Mr MacAirt claimed that appointing the former RUC officer to the role would be a breach of Irish national security – however lawyers for the state argued that this was a personal opinion and did not merit a legal review.

Today Judge Denis McDonald agreed and dismissed the challenge.

Speaking outside the court Mr MacAirt said he was disappointed:

“We are going to go back to Belfast, discuss it with the other family members and take a bit of time to consider those points,” he said.

“We are expecting a written judgement later on today and there will be a lot of information in there for us so it is going to take a little bit of time to go through that.”

Reporting from Paul Quinn ...



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