Senior gardaí under 'enormous stress' as a result of whistleblower allegations, tribunal told

The tribunal heard these allegations of corruption against officers “fell away” because there was “no evidence to support any of them”.

"They were under enormous stress. The stress affected their wives, their children, their families. And some of them had been under stress dating back to 2008," solicitor Annmarie Ryan from the Chief State Solicitor's Office told the tribunal.

Ms Ryan acted as a solicitor to the Garda Commissioner's legal team at the O'Higgins Commission of Inquiry, which looked at allegations of garda malpractice made by Sgt McCabe.

The tribunal is examining whether false allegations of sexual abuse or any other unjustified grounds were inappropriately relied upon by then Garda Commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan to discredit Sgt McCabe at the O'Higgins Commission of Investigation.

Sgt McCabe had made allegations of corruption against some officers, the tribunal heard.

The allegations of corruption were later withdrawn.

"They all crumbled and fell away because there was no evidence to support any of them," Ms Ryan said.

At the O'Higgins inquiry, Sgt McCabe agreed that corruption allegations were a "technical process" in order to have the Justice Minister examine his complaints.

Michael McDowell SC, who represents Sgt McCabe at the tribunal, said that he could make similar statements about sleepless nights on behalf of his client.

He said that the O'Higgins Commission had unreservedly accepted Sgt McCabe's bona fides, and called him "a man of integrity".

"It was obvious that most people down there were under serious stress," Ms Ryan said. "I can only account for what I saw in my clients. But I have no doubt that other people were seriously affected and also their families."

Ms Ryan said the findings of the O'Higgins commission had been accepted by the commissioner and by the government.

At the conclusion of Ms Ryan's evidence, tribunal chairman Mr Justice Peter Charleton said it appeared that all parties agreed that commissioner O'Sullivan had not relied on false allegations of sexual abuse at the O'Higgins inquiry, a part of his terms of reference.

The chairman said the tribunal would continue to examine whether the Garda Commissioner relied upon any other unjustified grounds to discredit Sgt McCabe at the O'Higgins inquiry.