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Ó Luain complaint misdirected
25.02.10
by Kevin Kelly, Inishowen Independent
THE fall-out from last June’s European elections
here in the Northwest has taken yet another twist.
The Garda Ombudsman has confirmed that a review is
to be conducted by its office into the misallocation
of votes and the subsequent Garda investigation
following a complaint.
The probe is at the request of Carndonagh man
Fiachra Ó Luain who contested the recent European
elections as an Independent. However, it has now
emerged that Ó Luain was sent a sensitive letter in
relation to another investigation by the Garda in an
embarrassing mistake for the force. |
Ó Luain received a
letter meant for an ex-garda who had made a
complaint to the Ombudsman's Office about his
treatment at a protest in Mayo. According to O Luain
“This suggests that the Chief Superintendent signed
the letter without reading it properly. Seven months
later and it seems an investigation into how
thousands of votes were misallocated has yet to
begin. I will bring this to the OSCE if necessary.”
The initial misallocation of votes came to light
following a recount called for by Libertas candidate
Declan Ganley.
The count found that 3,000 votes |
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belonging to O Luain
were incorrectly awarded to Ganley. Dissatisfied
with the manner of the running of the count centre
in Castlebar, Mayo, Ó Luain made a formal complaint
to Gardaí. However, Ó Luain then made
representations to the Garda Ombudsman's Office in
relation to the manner of the investigation.
The Ombudsman held up Ó Luain’s complaint in part
and requested the Garda Commissioner to conduct an
investigation into the matter. Superintendent
Michael Larkin was appointed and last month ruled
that there had been no wrongdoing on the part of the
investigating gardaí.
However, the Ombudsman is now to conduct a full
review into O Luain’s complaint.
Welcoming the news O Luain said: “I thank the Garda
Ombudsman for reviewing this case. If voters are to
be convinced that we do not live in a de facto
corporate dictatorship or banana republic, then we
have to get to the bottom of this mass vote
misallocation.
“I have requested that a non-Garda investigating
officer, with experience in electoral
investigations, be appointed to my case to ensure
due process and avoid objective bias,” the former
election candidate added. |
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