A Garda investigation into the possible leaking of information to the media about Fianna Fail TD Barry Cowen’s drink-driving ban is “imminent,” the Irish Mirror understands.
Mr Cowen was sacked as Agriculture Minister in 2020 by Taoiseach Micheal Martin after he refused to make a second public statement about his drink-driving offence.
Mr Cowen apologised for the drink-driving offence which occurred in 2016 and said it was a “stupid, stupid mistake.”
He strenuously denies claims that he attempted to evade a Garda checkpoint at the time and said he has sought a copy of this “incorrect record” and has taken steps under the Data Protection Act to have it corrected.
The Laois-Offaly TD has accused gardai of committing a criminal offence by leaking the details to the media.
The Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) is probing whether a member of the force leaked details to the press of the Garda Pulse record of a drink-driving offence.
GSOC is also probing Mr Cowen’s claim that the official Garda record of the incident is incorrect.
A senior source has said: “The outcome of the investigation is imminent, within the next month or two.”
It’s understood a member of the force has been pulled in for questioning on a number of occasions.
It has also been reported that a search operation has previously been carried out by GSOC at a Munster Garda station.
The news comes as Taoiseach Micheal Martin said on Monday that the door is open for Mr Cowen to return to Cabinet.
His comments come just three days after Mr Martin also said Golfgate casualty and former Agriculture Minister Dara Calleary could make a return to Cabinet in the future.
When asked if the same applied to Mr Cowen, speaking to reporters on Monday in Killarney, Mr Martin said: “Yeah for all politicians of that calibre and that seniority in political life, of course that’s the case.
“But as I say, and I dealt with that last week, in the situation of a three party Coalition Government, there are only so many positions for so many people right now.
“No one wanted what happened to happen but.. of course people engage through the Parliament, constructively engage in legislation and policy issues, and that’s been the history of politics.”
Mr Cowen, a senior Fianna Fail TD was sacked in July 2020 as Agriculture Minister after just 17 days in office.
He received a three-month road ban in 2016 for drink-driving for which he apologised.
Speaking in the Dail in July 2020, Mr Cowen confirmed he had consumed two drinks before attending the All Ireland Football Final in Dublin in 2016, before eating a light meal after the match.
While driving home to Offaly, he was stopped and breathalysed.
After being found to be over the legal alcohol limit, he was given a €200 fine and a three-month driving ban.
But he denies claims reported that he attempted to evade a Garda checkpoint at the time.
In 2020, the Taoiseach said the Garda file relating to the Offaly TDs’ drink-driving offence had raised issues that required more explanation.
However, Mr Cowen had sought an investigation as a citizen as to how the details relating to the incident were leaked to the media.
At the time, he said it was an investigation and did not want to make a second public statement.
In a tweet in July 2020, Mr Cowen said: “The Taoiseach informed me this evening by phone that he was removing me from office as Minister for Agriculture.
“I am both surprised and disappointed with this decision.
“Previously I furnished the Taoiseach with all the facts about my drink driving conviction and the story that the Sunday Times proposed to publish about my alleged evasion of a Garda checkpoint.
“In doing so I provided him with confidential details about my interaction with An Garda Siochana.
“I have made my position on these matters known publicly and I have acknowledged my wrong doing for something that occurred 4 years ago.
“I have sought an explanation - not as a government minister but as a citizen - as to how details relating to the incident were leaked to the media.
“The authorities have agreed to investigate the matter.
“One point warrants emphasis: at no time did I attempt to evade the Gardaí.
“Had I done so, the charges brought against me would, quite correctly, have been of a different tenor to those with which I was charged.
“I am responsible for the offence with which I was convicted 4 years ago, not for an inaccurate Garda entry on Pulse about that event.
“Ten days ago and this afternoon the Taoiseach believed my failure of 2016 didn’t warrant my removal from office but he now appears to have changed his mind based on a Pulse report I gave him this morning.
“It is important to re-emphasise that report was leaked in contravention of the protections that I and every other citizen is entitled to expect in respect of their interaction with the Gardaí.
“Unfortunately the decision of the Taoiseach to remove me from office, when he supported me this afternoon in the Dail, has undermined and potentially prejudiced my entitlement to fair process.”
