Former RTÉ presenter Joe Duffy has called for sweeping powers to allow gardaí to seize the phones of suspected gangland criminals ‘on a hunch’.

The ex-Liveline host made the comments at an event to mark the 30th anniversary of the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin in Dublin on Friday night.

The Truth and Transparency event, organised by the Guerin family, was attended by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan, Foreign Affairs and Defence Minister Helen McEntee, Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly and Attorney General Rossa Fanning.

The event was also attended by a large number of gardaí and journalists. Mr Duffy’s comments provoked a large number of raised eyebrows.

Paying tribute to the respected crime journalist – who was shot dead on Dublin’s Naas Road 30 years ago on Friday – Mr Duffy suggested gardaí should be empowered to seize mobile phones from members of the public ‘on a hunch’ if it was suspected they were involved in criminal activity.

A member of the audience reported that Mr Duffy said: ‘Gardaí on a hunch – although I probably shouldn’t say hunch – that you have been doing something wrong, they should be allowed to ask you for your phone, without need of a search warrant, and you have to give it to them. 

'They should be able to download your data to see what you have been doing.’

The retired broadcaster said he was invoking criticisms expressed by former Supreme Court judge Peter Charleton about the EU’s privacy laws, which Duffy suggested have hampered the efforts of law enforcement to keep society safe.

In an article published by the Cambridge Law Journal, Judge Charleton wrote that a ‘blanket’ ban imposed by the European Court of Justice on general metadata retention in the fight against serious crime means privacy rights ‘trump’ the rights of crime victims to a fair judicial process.

Reading from an abstract of the article, Mr Duffy told the event: ‘The authors’ central concern is that the Court of Justice of the European Union has interpreted the right to data privacy so expansively that it has undermined the effective administration of justice.

‘They argue that, by severely restricting the use of telecommunications metadata as evidence, the court has made it more difficult to investigate and prosecute serious crime, locate missing persons and resolve civil disputes.

‘In their view, the court’s decisions are marked by inconsistency, uncertain exceptions, and an overly activist interpretation of the EU Charter that elevates abstract privacy rights above the practical search for truth.

‘The result, they contend, is a weakening of the rule of law by denying courts and investigators access to reliable evidence while, in many cases, affording greater protection to offenders than to victims’.

Asked about his comments yesterday, Mr Duffy again referred to Judge Charleton’s paper ‘that I based my speech on’ and said he had ‘nothing further to add’.

The Irish Mail on Sunday asked the Taoiseach, Ministers for Justice and Defence, the Garda Commissioner and the Attorney General for a response to Mr Duffy’s call. No response was received.

At Friday night’s event, Mr Duffy also paid tribute to Veronica Guerin, and to reporters following in her footsteps such as the Sunday World’s Pat O’Connell, the Sunday Independent’s Maeve Sheehan and Michael O’Farrell of the MoS.

He also paid tribute to Garda officers Jerry McCabe, Adrian Donohoe and Colm Horkan, who all lost their lives in the line of duty and in defence of the State.

Mr Martin praised Veronica Guerin’s ‘determination to pursue the truth’, as he reflected on the crime reporter’s life and legacy at the event.

Ms Guerin was shot dead in 1996 at the age of 37, when her crime reporting for the Sunday Independent was making waves around the country.

She had spent the two years before her death writing about Ireland’s criminal underworld, exposing the brutality of gangland culture in the country.

But it also made her a target for drug lords, and she was subjected to several attacks and threats of violence before her death.

The Taoiseach said Ms Guerin was ‘a journalist whose work earned international respect’.

He added: ‘Because of Veronica’s work it was not possible to deny that there were networks behind the death and social destruction experienced by communities in different parts of the island – and their leaders knew that they could be exposed.’

He said the country’s reaction to her death was ‘as close to full national unity as it is possible to have’.

Mr Martin said he met Ms Guerin in Ógra Fianna Fáil in their youth and noted that even then it was ‘clear that she would be a star’.

He said: ‘Of her many virtues, being quiet was never one of them. Veronica filled every room she entered with energy and rejected the idea that young people should timidly defer to senior politicians. At meetings, she would challenge anyone she thought was delivering empty or superficial comments and was impatient for change.’

Mr Martin added she showed the country journalism ‘at its most dynamic, independent and effective’.

debbie.mccann@mailonsunday.ie