Garda whistleblowers come forward to RT Investigates from inside the Garda Protect Disclosures Office

Garda whistleblowers come forward to

RT Investigates from inside the

Garda Protective Disclosures Office itself

Senior Case Manager of Protected Disclosures Office

Detective Superintendent & Head of the Garda Technical Bureau

Head of the Garda National Youth Diversion Bureau & Protected Disclosures Case Manager

They say they tried to speak up' internally under reforms introduced after the Maurice McCabe whistleblowing crisis, but they were ignored and sidelined

they have been handled in a way which is disgraceful and which must be stopped Senator Michael McDowell

Watch tonight, Wednesday, at 9.35pm on RT One & RT Player

Key figures in the unit set up to protect whistleblowers in An Garda S och na after the force was beset with scandal have themselves blown the whistle and are among four Garda whistleblowers to speak publicly for the first time, in a RT Investigates documentary to be broadcast tonight.

Two of them are experienced personnel connected to the whistleblowing unit, the Garda Protected Disclosures Office, who are now whistleblowers themselves.

The other two are whistleblowers who made protected disclosures to the unit in recent years.

Across three decades, Irish society has been shaken by policing scandals. First, the Morris Tribunal warned a code of silence shielded wrongdoing. Then a whistleblower crisis, and a Disclosures Tribunal. Reform was promised, but did it happen? Now, from inside the force, Garda whistleblowers come forward to RT journalist Rita O'Reilly in a brand new RT Investigates documentary.

The Protected Disclosures Office was established in 2017 as a direct response to a string of controversies. The two case handlers from the Protected Disclosures Office allege that reforms introduced to protect Garda whistleblowers and to ensure a fair approach to investigating allegations about serious wrongdoing in the force have been undermined by the decisions and actions of senior management.

They have told RT Investigates that Garda whistleblowers have been penalised for coming forward about alleged wrongdoing at Garda Headquarters and believe that they themselves were penalised for protecting the Garda who disclosed it. Both feel they have been forced out of their roles and both are currently dependent on social welfare payments.

Garda Donal Corcoran was permanently attached to the Protected Disclosures Office and acted as a facilitator of whistleblowers, as well as handling cases for senior personnel who were designated case managers.

Case manager, Ms Rose Sweeney was a senior civilian principal officer and head of the Garda National Youth Diversion Bureau. She dealt with some of the most sensitive whistleblowing cases.

Two other whistleblowers have also come forward to speak out, one is Detective Superintendent Brian O'Reilly, the head of the Garda Technical Bureau.

He was given responsibility for the Firearms Section at Garda headquarters in September 2019. Det Supt O'Reilly has made a number of protected disclosures about matters he had direct knowledge of as head of the Technical Bureau.

In particular, he has made specific allegations about a holster issued as the standard gun holster for over 1,600 armed Garda . The holster was alleged to be defective and has been raised as a possible contributory factor in a serious injury to one armed Garda and the capital murder of another.

The programme contains a number of other significant allegations, and a fourth whistleblower.

All four allege they were singled out for doing their jobs.

All four describe a hostile culture and systemic resistance to protected disclosures within An Garda S och na.

Speaking to RT Investigates, Det Supt Brian O'Reilly, Garda Corcoran and Ms Rose Sweeney say they tried to speak up' internally, as is mandated by the Garda Code of Ethics under reforms introduced after the Maurice McCabe whistleblowing crisis, but they were ignored and sidelined, and now they are speaking out', to protect themselves and other whistleblowers.

Senator Michael McDowell and Labour's spokesperson on Justice Alan Kelly have recently met with the whistleblowers. Senator McDowell told RT Investigates: we have come to the conclusion that we're dealing with truthful, honourable people, and that they have been handled in a way which is disgraceful and which must be stopped.

Watch RT Investigates: The Garda Full Disclosure tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and RT Player.

Read further details here: Garda whistleblower unit members blow the whistle

ENDS

Date: Wednesday 16 September 2026

Note to Editors:

Please credit RT Investigates in relation to all materials used.

Tonight's documentary is by RT Investigates Journalist Rita O'Reilly and Producer/Director John Cunningham.

For further information please contact:

Laura Fitzgerald, Communications Manager, RT News & Current Affairs

LINK:	https://about.rte.ie/2026/09/16/garda-whistleblowers-come-forward-to-r...
	See more stories from rte

Europe Stories