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Ireland's political and cultural magazine
March/April 2022 23
I
first reported in Village that Leo Varadkar
had improperly passed a draft contract
to a friend Maitiú O Tuathail. The article
was published on 31 October 2020.
The story was headlined “Leo always
delivers’, the cover was ‘Leo Law Breaker’. The
cover of the following edition was ‘It’s a
Crime’.
Under cover of Dáil privilege Varadkar said
he’d received advice the first Village article
was defamatory, accused Village of being
“fringe” and said it had no resources so he’d
been advised suing would be “like suing
Twitter”. It would not.
He also swiftly issued a long and badly
conceived statement saying he had not broken
the law. There was a furore.
I wanted at all times to frame the issue as
one of breaking the law. Few enough of the
TDs, who debated the issue with much heat
on two occasions as an issue essentially of
impropriety, or the media, saw it thus.
After that I drove an initiative to have the
matter investigated by the Garda. On 13
November 2020, I wrote to the Detective Chief
Superintendent in charge of the Garda
National Economic Crime Bureau on behalf of
myself and Chay Bowes, who had informed the
entire Law Breaker story and who, unlike me,
had direct evidence. He and I separately met
detectives from the National Bureau of
Criminal Investigation soon after. I have met
them several times since, the last time in
January 2022.
The position of a journalist or editor making
a criminal complaint is invidious and I have
tried to balance the proprieties – for example
my obligation to the truth with my concern for
justice. I’m also a lawyer by training.
All this has led I believe to extreme
circumspection on my part and considerable
circumspection on the part of the magazine in
commenting on the ongoing investigation.
I have never predicted the outcome of the
detectives’ work, never given details of, or
described the nature of, the evidence I have
given, never commented on whether Mr
Varadkar should be prejudiced in his
advancement if the investigation remains
unresolved, or indeed on whether he should
resign. I have not given interviews or replied
to his disparagements including that some of
those behind the complaints (and there are
NEWS
By Michael Smith
Garda investigation of Leo Varadkar
only two of us) support another political party
in competition with his own. Whatever
anyones says the document leaked was a draft
contract, a “confidential” ‘Terms of Agreement’
between the Irish Medical Organisation, the
HSE and the Department of Health
I do, however, reserve the right to clarify the
basic record. I have a right to say I have at all
times facilitated the inquiry and reacted
quickly to requests for meetings. I don’t
believe there have been any attempts to
frustrate the Garda’s work, which they seem
to be carrying out carefully and eectively.
Some basic errors have become received
wisdom in media reports.
I also think it is appropriate to put the
document above into the public demesne as
it clarifies the rudiments of the complaint.
