Frenzy and Betrayal

Overview

On 6 May 2014, two reports wrongly condemning the conduct of Alan Shatter, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence, were delivered to government buildings in Dublin. Pressurised by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Shatter resigned from cabinet the next day, his reputation and political career in tatters. A frenzied media and political reaction to alleged bugging of the Garda Ombudsman Commission's offices and an avalanche of allegations of Garda corruption put Shatter in the eye of a storm. He was wrongly accused of covering up espionage and corruption, ignoring concerns of whistle-blowers, spying on political opponents, and of undermining the administration of justice. Damaged by false narratives and political manoeuvring by Kenny, Shatter, a TD for over thirty years, lost his Dáil seat in 2016. Pilloried by opposition politicians, journalists and commentators, targeted by a cabinet colleague and condemned without a fair hearing, Shatter was abandoned by his Fine Gael party colleagues. From the penalty points controversy, to the discovery of unknown phone tapping in Garda stations, to the explosive Charleton Report, this is the extraordinary inside story of a cataclysmic period in Irish politics. Compelling and sardonic, Frenzy and Betrayal is the deeply disturbing story of how a dedicated, truthful and progressive Irish cabinet minister was falsely accused of wrongdoing and unjustly hounded from office in twenty-first-century Ireland, and his traumatic five-year battle for vindication and the truth.

Reviews

"…this record of a 'uniquely Irish political coup' works [splendidly] as a book, as Shatter takes aim at those who brought about his downfall, as if they were coconuts at the fairground, and knocks them down one by one... Political memoirs can be worthy, but they're often dull. This one, subtitled The Anatomy Of A Political Assassination, certainly isn't. It's exhilarating, even fun, whilst also being deeply serious." —Eilis O'Hanlon, Sunday Independent

"An impressive book. An important contribution to our understanding of these events. It is a forensic, well-argued defence supported by the findings of independent commissions and reports which show—contrary to early embedded narrative—he acted correctly." —Noel Whelan, barrister and Irish Times columnist

Author Biography

Alan Shatter is a former Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Minister for Justice and Equality and Minister for Defence from 2011 to 2014. He was a TD for the Dublin South constituency from 1981 to 2002, and from 2007 to 2016. He was a partner in the Dublin law firm Gallagher Shatter (1977–2011) and is the author of several academic and general publications.