September, 2013:

I am glad to notice that Superintendent Murphy is in civilised touch with you. No doubt he will do a thorough investigation of the- booze- from-Shell- for-the-Gardai issues in spite of his representing the same county police as most of those specifically mentioned by OSSL as being in receipt of large deliveries of spirits courtesy of Shell. We are all of us aware of the difficult job he has to do: spirits are delivered to be consumed and there goes the evidence…

Comment supplied by Micheál ÓSeighin

Hi, John,

I am glad to notice that Superintendent Murphy is in civilised touch with you. No doubt he will do a thorough investigation of the- booze- from- Shell- for- the- Gardai issues in spite of his representing the same county police as most of those specifically mentioned by OSSL as being in receipt of large deliveries of spirits courtesy of Shell.

We are all of us aware of the difficult job he has to do: spirits are delivered to be consumed and there goes the evidence: as a good policeman, Superintendent Murphy will know that lack of a body does not necessarily mean the lack of a crime and he will act accordingly. He will no doubt try to establish the credibility of OSSL by investigating carefully the other allegations by OSSL of gifts delivered by OSSL on behalf of Shell to named local people and if these allegations are well founded (physical evidence existing) he, the Superintendent, must then find the allegations of OSSL regarding alcohol for Gardai to be an established case requiring a more substantial answer  than a bleated ”we never got any, we never got any”. He will then no doubt investigate some other allegations of attempted bribery of prominent local people by other Shell functionaries apart from OSSL, even in the media, to establish if there is indeed a pattern of behaviour, of bribery, towards which Shell minor operatives tend. At this point he will, no doubt, examine the history of Shell and other companies in the extractive industries, to establish for himself whether such bribery or attempted bribery is and/or has been a distinguishing factor of the activities of such companies vis a vis the members of the police forces serving the communities in which they are established. read more