Ireland's lonely whistleblowers - FT.com ©Pacemaker Press Olivia Greene says she has been unable to find work since she alleged mismanagement at Irish Nationwide Building Society When John Wilson discovered that senior police officers were routinely cancelling penalty points and fines for driving offences by judges, politicians and other prominent Irish people, he suspected corruption. "It was like a golden circle of people to whom the law of the land didn't apply," he says. A policeman with 30 years experience, Mr Wilson and another colleague complained through a confidential police force whistleblower service in March 2012. Their actions ultimately led to an independent inquiry that recommended an overhaul of the disciplinary system for motoring offences in Ireland. But instead of being lauded, Mr Wilson claims he has been hounded out of the job he loved. When I blew the whistle I was treated with suspicion by my colleagues and suspended from using the police database. My job was made untenable," says Wilson, who at 50 years of age is now considering emigration as the only way to find a job. My health suffered. I felt I had no option but to retire," he says. Mr Wilson is the latest in a series of Irish whistleblowers who have felt unable to stay in their jobs after speaking out about alleged malpractice or corruption. Many of them have been branded as disloyal. "Ireland is a small place," says John Devitt, head of Transparency International Ireland. If you make an enemy of one powerful individual you can easily find yourself making an enemy of them all. An Garda Síochána, the Irish police force, said it could not discuss comments made by individuals when asked about Mr Wilson's claims. His complaint prompted an internal inquiry by police that uncovered only minor irregularities with the driving offences system. In most cases, it found senior police had correctly used their discretion in cancelling penalties for "compassionate" or other legitimate reasons. Disciplinary action was recommended against three officers but no evidence of criminality - including "corruption, deception or falsification of records" - was found. Alan Shatter, Ireland's justice minister, told the Financial Times there was no evidence to support claims of corruption linked to the cancelling of driving penalties. "While it is the case that the whistleblowers have rejected the findings of the [police] inquiry, no evidence has yet been advanced in support of that rejection," he added. In September, however, an independent inquiry by Ireland's chief spending watchdog uncovered widespread problems. He found 42,700 fixed penalty notices were terminated in 2011 and 2012, about 5 per cent of all cases. One in five motorists avoided penalties due to "significant weaknesses" in the system, costing the state millions of euros. His report recommended a radical overhaul. Famous names abound in driving penalties saga What do former Irish rugby player Ronan O'Gara, Judge Mary Devins and award-winning crime journalist Paul Williams have in common? They have all been named in the Irish parliament as having had driving penalties cancelled by senior police. The story of how so many people of privilege have avoided punishment for driving offences has struck a chord in a country, where a "golden circle" of senior bankers, politicians and regulators are blamed for the collapse of the economy. Under Irish law senior police have the discretion to cancel penalty points and fines for legitimate reasons. Discretionary reasons cited have included: being worried about livestock; attacks by bees; being late for a swimming lesson; and a broken speedometer. Mr O'Gara's agent did not respond to emails from the FT. A solicitor representing Judge Devins declined to comment. Mr Williams told Irish radio that penalty points were legitimately "expunged" from his licence under the existing appeal system. He added that the disclosure of his name publicly had amounted to an infringement of the privacy of a relative of his. A parliamentary committee is now considering whether to initiate its own inquiry into the issue. The penalty points saga occurred just as Dublin published draft legislation to protect people working in the public and private sectors who speak out. If passed, it would provide compensation of up to a maximum of five years" pay in unfair dismissals cases involving whistleblowers. The bill is part of Dublin's pledge to open up government following its financial crisis, which was blamed on "group think" and a refusal to listen to alternative views. Transparency International Ireland's Mr Devitt cites the example of Morgan Kelly, an economics professor at University College Dublin, who issued warnings about risks posed by ballooning mortgage lending before the property crash. Prof Kelly was vilified by the former government as an "economic scaremonger." On the eve of the financial crisis, Bertie Ahern, then Irish prime minister, wondered aloud why critics of the Irish economy did not "commit suicide." Mr Ahern later apologised for the comment. "This was a shocking comment that didn't indicate an openness to listen to valid criticism," says Brendan Howlin, Ireland's minister for public expenditure, who is lead sponsor of the new whistleblowing bill. He says a change of culture is needed in a country that retains a suspi cion of informers from colonial times. "Traditionally anyone who collaborated with authority in Ireland was seen as collaborating with an oppressive, foreign system and that has embedded itself in our psyche to a degree that the notion of blowing the whistle is more alien than [in] other societies," says Mr Howlin. It explains why things were allowed to happen here during the financial crisis that might have been exposed at an earlier date elsewhere. He refused to comment on the treatment of Mr Wilson. But former whistleblowers say the critical response of the authorities in the penalty points case suggests the hostile culture towards those who speak out has not changed. "This shoot the messenger approach is often used to diminish the status of a whistleblower," says Eugene McErlean, a former group auditor at Allied Irish Banks, who disclosed an overcharging scam. "A common tactic is to highlight minor mistakes or inaccuracies in a whistleblowers" case to discredit them, while ignoring the systematic problem that they have identified," he says. The stakes are high for whistleblowers. Research shows speaking out can take a heavy personal toll on individuals" wellbeing. Many experience financial difficulties and stress. Olivia Greene, a former lending supervisor at Irish Nationwide Building Society, says she has been unable to find a new job since she spoke out publicly about alleged mismanagement at the lender. I have sent out 60 or more applications for jobs but all have been refused even the ones which I am well qualified for. I am totally unemployable in financial services now. Kate Kenny, who is researching whistleblowing in banking at Queen's University Belfast, says "informal blacklists" of whistleblowers exist in many industries, and suggests that the compensation provisions in the draft bill do not go far enough. Ireland, she argues, needs to change the ambivalent attitude towards whistleblower protection shown by the authorities and the public. "A new law is to be celebrated," she says. But research from other jurisdictions tells us that it must be supported by the media, civil society, government and the public if it is to be a success.