Allegations Against Frank Connolly
In December 2005 the Executive Director of the CPI, Frank Connolly was subject to allegations that he had used a fake passport to gain entry to Colombia, although he was never charged with the offence. The allegations were published in the Irish Independent after then Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform Michael McDowell leaked them to journalist Sam Smyth. Connolly denied the allegations, describing them as "false and malicious". He was backed by the CPI's board which stated that: "The Board of the Centre for Public Inquiry reiterates its full confidence in its Executive Director, Frank Connolly and his integrity" and said "...the claim made in Dáil Éireann by the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, that either Frank Connolly or the CPI, or both, could pose a threat to the security of the State is entirely without evidential basis, unsustainable, and totally untrue." The Director of Public Prosecutions DPP decided not to prosecute Connolly in 2003. It further went on to say that "a private and public blackening of his character has been unleashed by the Minister. This shows a signal departure from principles of fair dealing and respect for justice to the individual citizen by the State which are absolute, save in the most exceptional cases and where legislated upon by the Oireachtas. The methods adopted by the Minister may well have undermined the status, authority and the statutory independence of the DPP."
Read more about this topic: Centre For Public Inquiry
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