Gmai to all senators 25th march 2014 unlawfulness of recordings re you and sgt

5/12/2014

The sole response to my email, from members of Seanad Eireann, came from Gmail - Unlawfulness of recordings re You and Sgt .McCabe ?: - Call for clarity Sen David Norris who was sympathetic but to ill to get involved.

This is the same body of public representatives who were saved from the scrapheap and a recent referendum by claiming that they were a "Big Picture", reflective body.

Liam O Gogain Apparently, they are either too busy doing God knows what, are too lazy and <ogogainl@gmail.com> thinking to protect the public interest by ensuring clarity for future putative whistleblowers!

Unlawfulness of recordings re You and Sgt .McCabe ?: - Call for clarity Liam O Gogain <ogogainl@gmail.com> 25 March 2014 16:21 To: ivana.bacik@oireachtas.ie, seand.barrett@oireachtas.ie, paul.bradford@oireachtas.ie, terry.brennan@oireachtas.ie, paddy.burke@oireachtas.ie, colm.burke@oireachtas.ie, thomas.byrne@oireachtas.ie, deirdre.clune@oireachtas.ie, paul.coghlan@oireachtas.ie, eamonn.coghlan@oireachtas.ie, michael.comiskey@oireachtas.ie, martin.conway@oireachtas.ie, john.crown@oireachtas.ie, david.cullinane@oireachtas.ie, maurice.cummins@oireachtas.ie, mark.daly@oireachtas.ie, jim.darcy@oireachtas.ie, michael.darcy@oireachtas.ie, john.gilroy@oireachtas.ie, jimmy.harte@oireachtas.ie, aideen.hayden@oireachtas.ie, fidelma.healy.eames@oireachtas.ie, james.heffernan@oireachtas.ie, imelda.henry@oireachtas.ie, lorraine.higgins@oireachtas.ie, cait.keane@oireachtas.ie, john.kelly@oireachtas.ie, denis.landy@oireachtas.ie, terry.leyden@oireachtas.ie, fiach.macconghail@oireachtas.ie, marc.macsharry@oireachtas.ie, marie.moloney@oireachtas.ie, paschal.mooney@oireachtas.ie, mary.moran@oireachtas.ie, tony.mulcahy@oireachtas.ie, ronan.mullen@oireachtas.ie, michael.mullins@oireachtas.ie, hildegarde.naughton@oireachtas.ie, catherine.noone@oireachtas.ie, david.norris@oireachtas.ie, trevor.oclochartaigh@oireachtas.ie, brian.odomhnaill@oireachtas.ie, labhras.omurchu@oireachtas.ie, darragh.obrien@oireachtas.ie, maryann.obrien@oireachtas.ie, marielouise.odonnell@oireachtas.ie, denis.odonovan@oireachtas.ie, susan.okeeffe@oireachtas.ie, pat.oneill@oireachtas.ie, ned.osullivan@oireachtas.ie, averil.power@oireachtas.ie, feargal.quinn@oireachtas.ie, kathryn.reilly@oireachtas.ie, tom.sheahan@oireachtas.ie, jillian.vanturnhout@oireachtas.ie, jim.walsh@oireachtas.ie, john.whelan@oireachtas.ie, mwhite@oireachtas.ie, diarmuid.wilson@oireachtas.ie, katherine.zappone@oireachtas.ie Dear Senator, Please consider the contents of the emails below. In the midst of the ongoing controversy about Commissioner retiring/resigning? and political wrangles about Minister Shatter etc, there are more fundamental issues for which I am seeking your support.

Over the last period, since the credibility of the Garda Whistleblowers has largely been vindicated, it appears many public representatives have found the courage to speak out on their behalf and in support of Whistleblowers in general, as a vital element of exposing wrongdoing.

A fundamental threat to future putative whistleblowers is the ambiguity and misbelief created by the persuasive statement by the highly qualified Oliver Connolly that Sgt McCabeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recordings of an intra-party (as against a third party) conversation was unlawful.

As you will note from the material herein, I have repeatedly requested Oliver Connolly to clarify the position vis-a-vis the lawfulness of such recordings in a clear, accessible and unequivocal manner. In spite of repeated emails he has failed not only to produce clarity, in the public interest, but he has not even acknowledged receipt of the emails.

This matter is far more serious in terms of the long term public interest, than any of the current characters who are in the spotlight and it requires critical appreciation of your part that transcends Party Political interests.

On the basis of my presumption that you too share my belief, that future whistleblowers need proper protection and support, in order to serve the public interest and democracy, I am asking that you review the material herein re the lawfulness of intra-party recording and work collaboratively with other parliamentarians to ensure that specific questions are raised in the Seanad which produce a clear, accessible and unequivocal understanding of the lawfulness of such recordings.

In the ongoing debate please NOTE the fundamental difference between Third party recording (i.e bugging) and intra-party recording https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=f93a1c5927&view=pt&search=sent&msg=144fa0c52a4a6748&dsqt=1&siml=144fa0c52a4a6748

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Gmail - Unlawfulness of recordings re You and Sgt .McCabe ?: - Call for clarity

The attached PDF can be accessed online HERE! Sincerely, Liam O Gogain

---------- Forwarded message ---------From: Liam O Gogain <ogogainl@gmail.com> Date: 24 March 2014 12:12 Subject: Re: Unlawfulness of recordings re You and Sgt .McCabe ?: - Call for clarity To: oconnolly@thefriary.ie Cc: "tjmcintyre@ucd.ie" <tjmcintyre@ucd.ie>, Alan Shatter <Alan.shatter@oireachtas.ie>, Clare Daly <clare.daly@oireachtas.ie>, "thelastword@todayfm.com" <thelastword@todayfm.com>, MIchael Clifford <mickoclifford@gmail.com>

Dear Oliver, I do not appear to have received either, an acknowledgment of receipt, nor a response from you to my email below. As the matters referred to therein are of National importance and the credbility of the Sgt.McCabe, as a whistleblower, has been widely established and his ( and John Wilson's) contribution in this area in service of the public good is increasingly being acknowledged politically and in the media generally, this remaining slight on his integrity, by your claim that he acted unlawfully in recording his conversation with you, demands clarification and correction , if necessary, most importantly from yourself, in the public interest.

As the impact of the intervention of the whistleblowers is being widely discussed, even at cabinet level this week, I urge you:1. Firstly to immediately, by return email, acknowledge receipt of this and the previous email (I got the address from http://www.friarylaw-mediation.ie/about/ which identified you as being the Principal) and 2. Secondly, provide a clear, accessible and unambiguous to the issues raised in my email below.

Sincerely, Liam O Gogain

On 19 March 2014 16:43, Liam O Gogain <ogogainl@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Oliver, I am writing to you in relation to your recent press release and surrounding media coverage, specifically in relation to the lawfulness, legality or otherwise of the recordings of your conversation with Sgt. McCabe.

I wish to make it clear that I have no interest or desire to ask or suggest that you breach any confidentiality.

I first heard about your press release while listening to the Last Word on Today.fm in a public place. The detail was hard to hear so I followed it up on The Examiner.ie article . I noted firstly how highly and widely qualified your credentials were, on your headed paper :OLIVER J CONNOLLY BARRISTER-AT-LAW (IRE, N IRE, ENG & WALES) ATTORNEY-AT-LAW (NEW YORK AND US SUPREME COURT) AMERICAN ARBITRATION ASSOCIATION HOELLERING INTERNATIONAL FELLOW https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=f93a1c5927&view=pt&search=sent&msg=144fa0c52a4a6748&dsqt=1&siml=144fa0c52a4a6748

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Gmail - Unlawfulness of recordings re You and Sgt .McCabe ?: - Call for clarity

MEMBER OF BARRISTERS’ CHAMBERS AT 36 BEDFORD ROW, LONDON MA LLB (DUBLIN), DIP BS, DIP ARB, DIP INTL ARB, FCI ARB ACCREDITED MEDIATOR

Further research on you came up with the article “Legal eagle has impressive CV and party credentials” quote “Mr Connolly certainly boasts one of the most impressive CVs in the Irish legal domain.”

Any reader, viewer or listener would be highly impressed and easily swayed by your assertions that the recordings referenced to Sgt.McCabe were unlawful and your referencing of the Kennedy-vIreland judgment in support of your assertion.

I then noted another article by TJ.McIntyre, “Oliver Connolly is wrong – Sgt McCabe broke no laws with his secret recording” From the outset I had understood that the judgment you had used to underpin your press statement was based on third party recording, which is dimensionally different than an intra-party recording.

Given your impressive Legal credentials as referenced above, I found it difficult to believe that a competent legal professional with integrity would not have known the difference and would not be aware of the 2006 ruling of the Barristers Professional Tribunal (see my attached PDF on the issue)and in particular the statement by Jim Gleeson, Chairman of the Tribunal that:“After all, a party to a telephone conversation is always capable of giving evidence of the contents of that conversation without any recording apparatus, whether by making a contemporaneous note or by simply recalling in evidence what was said during the conversation.”

The article by TJ McIntyre (supported by his legal credentials) along with my own material from 2006, seem to be in direct contradiction your fundamental thesis in your press statement that the recording was illegal.

I know that, for now, the media focus has moved on from you and your statement. However, as a concerned citizen, I have often found myself, similar I presume to Sgt. McCabe, in situations where every other person had given legitimacy to false data, and the only record I have had were recordings etc. In fact, almost by definition in the emergence of whistleblowers is the https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=f93a1c5927&view=pt&search=sent&msg=144fa0c52a4a6748&dsqt=1&siml=144fa0c52a4a6748

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Gmail - Unlawfulness of recordings re You and Sgt .McCabe ?: - Call for clarity

overwhelming ability of the dominant forces to legitimate false realities. In such situations, without the sole, grounding, calibration of recorded evidence, such a whistleblower might in fact end up doubting their own sanity and certainly getting little traction in seeking to expose wrongdoing.

The recent Garda Inspectorate report and articles such as â&#x20AC;&#x153;Taoiseach says garda whistleblowers have been vindicatedâ&#x20AC;?, highlights the vitality for Democracy in Ireland of having civic minded whistleblowers to expose wrongdoing.

In conversations with general members of the public and reviewing media commentary over the last fortnight, I have major concerns that the argument that you had posited, given the weight of your professional legal credentials, continue to cast doubt over the lawfulness of whistleblowers making such recordings. This issue is not restricted to you personally or Sgt. McCabe. The need for clarity and definition has much wider societal ramifications.

If this confusion is allowed to persist there is a serious danger that in future, potential whistleblowers will be afraid to record material, believing that you are correct in saying such intraparty recordings are unlawful. As the recording is often the only security and critically believable evidence a whistleblower may have, this misinformation may force them into continued silence.

I would sincerely hope that given your former role as the Confidential Recipient, you would be distressed if your statement were to have such a suppressive effect.

I am calling on you as a civic duty to either:Substantiate your claim that such recording are unlawful, as you have claimed, and thus make it clear to future whistleblowers that they will be breaking the law by making such intra-party recordings.

OR Acknowledge that the argument that you had posited was not applicable in this case and explain why such a highly rated legal professional would have mislead the public and frightened future (and past and present) whilstleblowers.

Sincerely, https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=f93a1c5927&view=pt&search=sent&msg=144fa0c52a4a6748&dsqt=1&siml=144fa0c52a4a6748

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Gmail - Unlawfulness of recordings re You and Sgt .McCabe ?: - Call for clarity

Liam O Gogain Email:- ogogainl@gmail.com

-Do Visit www.Liamog.com Defragmentation with Attitude

-Do Visit www.Liamog.com Defragmentation with Attitude

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=f93a1c5927&view=pt&search=sent&msg=144fa0c52a4a6748&dsqt=1&siml=144fa0c52a4a6748

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