Nóirín O’Sullivan Hired By UN After They Forget To Check References

FORMER GARDA COMMISSIONER Nóirín O’Sullivan has landed a new job as the Assistant Secretary-General for Safety and Security at the United Nations, due in no small part to the fact that the UN’s HR department failed to do its due diligence and actually ring the people listed as references on her CV.

A time-honoured tradition, embellishing your CV is part and parcel of Irish life with some shop assistants declaring themselves proficient in Neurology and ‘space exploration’ all so they can secure a position as a Chief Breakfast Roll Technician, and it appears former Garda Commissioners who were forced to resign under a cloud are no different.

Once skipping passed the lengthy list of ‘achievements’, ‘personal qualities’ and ‘hobbies’, which included ‘listening to music’, ‘socialising with friends’ and ‘doing loads of nice stuff’, O’Sullivan’s CV listed a number of references including ‘the Dáil’ and ‘Judge Charleton’ and ‘Judge O’Higgins’.

“Ah we were very busy, and honestly who calls to follow up on written references?” confirmed one person working in the UN.

While Judge Charleton at the Disclosures Tribunal concluded O’Sullivan to have played no part in a smear campaign against whistleblower Maurice McCabe carried out by Garda Dave Taylor and former Commission Martin Callinan, he stated:

“It is also improbable that she did not have an inkling at the very least about Commissioner Callinan’s views. At the very least, it was more than improbable that nothing emerged in the car journey with him back to Garda Headquarters from the meeting of the Public Accounts Committee on 23 January 2014. It was disappointing to hear her evidence on this”.

Elsewhere, UN whistleblowers have resigned en masse after hearing of O’Sullivan’s appointment, stating ‘what’s the point’.