Fine Gael are criticising Brian Lenihan for a bit of news dumping today. The annual report of the Morris Tribunal into Garda misconduct in Donegal was released today amidst all the furore surrounding the ascension of Brian Cowen to the post of Taoiseach and perhaps Lenihan’s own promotion to Tanaiste. They have a point, this is the sort of report worthy of a newsdump, it will mean bad press and more of the same “bad apples” shtick from all involved.

The report makes serious findings against a number of members of An Garda Síochána involved. It finds that a number of persons were unlawfully arrested and detained, and that some were mistreated in custody, mainly through verbal and in some cases physical abuse. The Tribunal also does not accept the evidence to it of several members of An Garda Síochána, and strongly condemns the instances of mistreatment it has uncovered.

The report also deals with the investigation by the Tribunal into a claim that conversations between solicitors and persons detained in Letterkenny Garda station were secretly recorded by members of An Garda Síochána. The report concludes that this allegation is false.

There will be more to this than a simple news dump however, the report - while lengthy - is well worth browsing (as I am doing here, while listening to our esteemed leaders vote on Brian Cowen as Taoiseach.