Humphries Honoured Disgraced Garda Accused Of Threatening His Wife With A Gun
Image Via The Ditch
Humphries Honoured Disgraced Garda Accused Of Threatening His Wife With A Gun
Original investigative reporting via The Ditch
Noel McMahon was a Garda who was found to have planted fake bombs to falsely implicate the IRA and fabricated evidence that led to wrongful convictions; he has also been accused of severe domestic violence, including threatening his wife with a firearm.
Investigative reporting by The Ditch in partnership with Village Magazine has found that presidential candidate Heather Humphreys, while serving as Ireland’s justice minister, presented a state bravery award to a former Garda detective despite his extensive history of serious misconduct and abuse. The award, given in 2021 to Noel McMahon, was for his involvement in the 1983 rescue of kidnapped businessman Don Tidey. During the ceremony, Humphreys praised McMahon and his colleagues as “truly heroic” and said they were receiving an “exceptional award.” The Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, was also present.
However, McMahon has a deeply troubling past. In 2002, a court found he had fabricated evidence that led to the wrongful imprisonment of a Donegal publican. The Morris Tribunal later confirmed McMahon had planted fake bombs and ammunition in the 1990s to falsely implicate the IRA and advance his own career. He resigned from An Garda Síochána in 2004 following these findings. In addition to this, he was twice convicted of drink driving in the early 2000s.
McMahon was also accused of severe domestic violence by his ex-wife, Sheenagh McMahon. She told the Morris Tribunal that he had kicked, punched, and threatened her with his Garda-issued firearm, once pointing it at her head and threatening to kill her. In 1999, he produced a fake court order that led to her wrongful arrest. The state later admitted liability, and in 2018 paid her €20,000 in damages, formally acknowledging she had been unlawfully detained because of McMahon’s actions.
Another woman, Karen McGlinchey, also accused McMahon of assault and settled a High Court case against him in 2011. Despite these serious and well-documented incidents, Humphreys chose to publicly honour McMahon in 2021, less than four years after the state acknowledged his role in the unlawful arrest of his ex-wife. None of the other Gardaí honoured at the same event were connected to McMahon’s misconduct, and there is no suggestion of wrongdoing on their part.
Heather Humphreys’ decision to publicly honour a disgraced Garda with a proven record of corruption, domestic violence, and fabricating evidence, raises serious questions about her judgment and values. Humphreys has publicly attacked her presidential rival Catherine Connolly for supposed “hypocrisy” over much less serious issues. This stark contrast highlights a troubling double standard. As a candidate for the highest office in the country, Humphreys’ actions send a worrying message about accountability and the protection of victims.
The Ditch has approached Heather Humphreys for comment, and also reported that “no suggestion whatsoever of wrongdoing on the part of any of the other gardaí awarded the Scott Medal at the September 2021 ceremony and they have no link to McMahon or the allegations and findings made against him.”
