AG forced to write to cabinet after DPP criticism

The attorney general – in private correspondence – was forced to remind government of the “strictly independent” nature of the DPP’s work after senior ministers claimed her office was "no longer fit for purpose".

Rossa Fanning wrote the letter to Leo Vardkar, Micheál Martin, Helen McEntee and Eamon Ryan after media reports quoted unnamed ministers criticising the DPP’s handling of high-profile cases like Gerard Hutch’s murder trial.

Fanning said any such “criticism should be directed through his office first” after the DPP had written to him to stress the importance of her office being “completely free from any possibility of political interference”.

The Irish Mail on Sunday article had recently published ministers' criticisms of the DPP’s decision to prosecute a garda trained for the ultimately fatal pursuit of burglary suspects as evidence of the office’s supposed failures.

‘Decisions of this office are made completely free from any possibility of political interference’

On 30 June, 2023 attorney general Rossa Fanning wrote to then taoiseach Leo Varadkars, tánaiste Micheal Martin, justice minister Helen McEntee and environment minister Eamon Ryan.

The letter followed a meeting Fanning held with DPP Catherine Pierse where she raised unnamed senior ministers criticising her in media reports.

'There is no other state agency that wields such sweeping powers, yet has no requirement whatsoever to explain its actions,” one of these ministers told the Irish Mail on Sunday, adding, “And yet some of this organisation's actions of late have been highly questionable. It is not fit for purpose.”

These ministers cited Gerard Hutch’s acquittal for the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel as evidence the DPP's office needed reform and said they intended to approach Helen McEntee about seeing this through.

After her meeting with Fanning, DPP Pierse wrote a letter explaining how her office works – and stressed the importance of independence from government.

“We are fortunate I think in this jurisdiction to have strong institutional safeguards in respect of the independence of our prosecution service so that the people of Ireland can rightly be confident that the decisions of this office are made completely free from any possibility of political interference,” she wrote to Fanning.

Pierse also warned against media influence, writing to Fanning, “It is also critically important that decisions are made without regard to public or media commentary. Independence and impartiality are essential to this Office carrying out its functions on behalf of the people.”

After Pierse’s letter to Fanning and the meeting between the pair, Fanning wrote his letter to government ministers.

Pierse, wrote Fanning, “is anxious to put some matters on the record in the context of the criticisms that have been advanced against her”.

Fanning also referred to the importance of the DPP’s independence.

"It would clearly be a very unfortunate situation were there to be a drift of stories in which government sources were seen to be critical of the director, having regard to the strictly independent function of her office and her inability to answer criticisms made of her in public," he wrote.

Fanning suggested that criticism of the DPP should be directed through his office first in future.

"If there are concerns in government about the discharge by the director of her functions, I think it would be appropriate that they would be addressed to me in the first instance for consideration as to how, if at all, they ought to be conveyed to her," he wrote.

The Special Criminal Court delivered its verdict in the Hutch trial in April 2023 after a 13-week hearing, acquitting him on all charges.

The attorney general enclosed the newspaper article and Pierse's letter in his correspondence to the ministers, offering to discuss the matter further if needed.

Fanning, Pierse, Martin, Ryan and taoiseach Simon Harris have been contacted for comment.