Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Okay. I have a letter that was referred to earlier, which refers to Mr. Barrett and was written by Mr. Culhane. It was sent to the Commissioner and deputy commissioners and is dated 24 October 2015. It is pretty excoriating in respect of Mr. Barrett. I think Ms O'Sullivan would recognise that the language is pretty choice and dramatic. The interesting thing is that the title of the letter sent is "Re Garda Síochána Act section 41 - Garda College". I find it very interesting that Mr. Culhane is having a right go at Mr. Barrett, up to and including suggesting that he may have broken the Official Secrets Act and all sorts, and defending his honour.

He was quite aggressive in respect of Mr. Barrett and stated Mr. Barrett thought he was responsible for the devil and all and that it is all his fault. Is it not interesting that this is how he highlights the matter? He does not explicitly say anywhere that a disclosure should not be made. If one read the letter, one would have to imagine it was designed not just to take a pop at Mr. Barrett, but also to dissuade any notion of making that disclosure.

He states: "I refer to the ongoing issues concerning the Garda college which recently culminated in a minute from the head of legal affairs [that is our friend, Mr. Ruane] based upon partial and inaccurate representations made by Mr. John Barrett advising the Commissioner to make a section 41 disclosure to the Minister." Although he never says in the text that a disclosure should not be made, if it landed on my desk I would read it as an attempt to persuade me not to make that disclosure. Is that how Ms O'Sullivan read the document?