Supt David Taylor applies for retirement following suspension
Garda Superintendent David Taylor has applied for retirement after being suspended from the force.
Supt Taylor was suspended from duty yesterday following the findings of a Disclosures Tribunal report earlier this week.
It found that the former head of the Garda Press Office and former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan ran a smear campaign against Garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe.
Earlier today, the Garda Press Office confirmed that a Garda officer had been suspended from duty but described it as an employment matter and said it would not be commenting further.
A disciplinary hearing is due to take place following the findings of the Tribunal.
Supt Taylor has 30 years service in An Garda Siochana and it has been reported that he will receive his full pension if his application for retirement is accepted.
A decision on whether to accept his retirement application has not been made yet.
Earlier: Supt David Taylor suspended days after publication of Disclosures Tribunal report
Garda Superintendent David Taylor has been suspended from duty following the findings of a Disclosures Tribunal report this week.
The 406-page third interim report released by Justice Peter Charleton concluded that former Garda Press Officer Supt Taylor was involved in "a campaign of calumny against Sergeant Maurice McCabe”.
The Garda Press Office has confirmed that a senior officer has been suspended. A spokesperson said it was an employment matter and that they will not be commenting further.
The Disclosures report, released three days ago, found that he and former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan were part of a campaign to smear Sgt McCabe.
Justice Charleton said: "Superintendent David Taylor spun a deceit that his boss, Commissioner Martin Callinan, with whom he was on the best of terms for all his time in the press office of Garda Headquarters, and Nóirín O’Sullivan, who he decided for his own bitter reasons he didn’t like and was not up to the job, were on the one hand composing, and on the other approving, derogatory messages about Maurice McCabe."
"The tribunal is convinced that he pursued a scheme that somehow evolved out of his cheek-by-jowl working relationship with Commissioner Callinan.
"Their plan was that there was to be much nodding and winking and references to a historic claim of sexual abuse while, at the same time, saying that the Director of Public Prosecutions had ruled that even if the central allegation did not have credibility issues, what was described did not amount to an offence of sexual assault or even an assault."
