PSNI phone recording raised in the Dáil

Yesterday a TD told the Dail that he believes the PSNI secretly recorded his phone calls to a journalist in Northern Ireland.

Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín raised an alleged recording of phone calls between himself and a journalist by the PSNI as he asked the Taoiseach to investigate the matter during a discussion about former BBC journalist Vincent Kearney.

“Vincent Kearney, the current RTE Northern Correspondent believes the PSNI has attempted to identify sources he worked with while he was with the BBC,” Deputy Tóibín told the Dail.

“Vincent Kearney’s case came to light as a result of another case involving two other journalists in the north.

“They allege unlawful police surveillance of them.

“On two occasions I was on the phone to a journalist in the north of Ireland.

“On both occasions the call dropped, but before I got to hang up, a recording of the phone call I just had, played back to me.

“It was clear that the phone call I just had was being recorded and the recording had malfunctioned”.

This comes after several journalists made similar allegations.

According to a recent report, the PSNI has been involved in up to 18 incidents of surveillance targeting journalists and lawyers.

The PSNI’s chief constable, Jon Boutcher, handed the report to the Policing Board in April, six months after it was first requested.

The policing watchdog asked for the report following disclosures that the PSNI had carried out covert surveillance against two journalists who exposed police corruption.

The Policing Board requested the report from the PSNI after journalists Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey asked the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) to investigate whether they had been subject to unlawful surveillance.

The IPT heard that the two journalists had been subject to police phone surveillance between 2011 and 2018 as part of police attempts to identify their confidential sources.

“Is it good enough that the PSNI record the calls of journalists,” Deputy Tóibín said.

“Is it good enough that the PSNI or any organ of the British Military record the phone call of a member of this Dáil?

“Is this how a democracy should function more than 25 years since the Good Friday Agreement?

“Will you raise this threat to the democratic system with the incoming Secretary of State for the North of Ireland”.