GSOC drops criminal investigation into Assistant Garda Commissioner Fintan Fanning
Assistant Garda Commissioner Fintan Fanning had his suspension lifted tonight after GSOC contacted him to say that he was no longer the subject of a criminal investigation.
Mr Fanning had been suspended on January 3 by Commissioner Drew Harris as a result of being under investigation.
The assistant commissioner challenged the suspension in the High Court and following an adjournment the case was due for a hearing later this month.
However, GSOC is understood to have contacted Mr Fanning’s solicitor this evening to say that his client was no longer being investigated for an alleged criminal offence.
Commissioner Harris then lifted his assistant commissioner’s suspension.
At the time he was suspended Mr Fanning said the allegations against him were “outrageous and spurious.”
The GSOC investigation centres on a protected disclosure made by a rank and file garda in which two allegations were made against Mr Fanning.
One of these concerned a promotion application by the junior garda and the second dealt with an incident in which the junior garda felt he was wrongly suspended.
It is understood that the GSOC investigation will continue, but will now be concerned with whether or not any disciplinary breaches arise out of the protected disclosure.
A spokesman for the Garda Press Office tonight said they had no comment to make on the matter.
