Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Returning to Deputy MacSharry's earlier comments, we put it to Mr. Culhane about keeping it in-house and dealing with the problem. In Mr. Culhane's letter of October 2015 to the Commissioner and deputy commissioner, he used several adjectives in respect of Mr. Barrett in that letter. The journalists sitting in the Gallery can tell him the difference between a factual straight report and a colour piece. I suggest that Mr. Culhane's letter is a colour piece because he laced it with adjectives.

I will elaborate.

The letter dated 24 October 2015 from Mr. Michael Culhane to the Commissioner, the deputy commissioner and CEO, refers to the meeting of 14 October. In referencing Mr. John Barrett, Mr. Culhane referred to his usual sweeping style. For anybody who practises journalism or deals with the importance of words, Mr. Culhane is creating a theme using words such as "his usual sweeping style", "he did not believe him" and "he just stopped short of calling the deputy commissioner a liar". Mr. Culhane talks about a "palpable shock of silence in the room", "Mr. Barrett's irrational behaviour" and a "lack of respect for an acting deputy commissioner". He has framed that in a very particular way. He has laced it with adjectives.

Was there a silence in the room because these guys were making things uncomfortable and getting to the heart of the job they were supposed to be doing?