A Garda investigation has uncovered no evidence to support allegations made by Minister of State for Justice Frank Fahey that individuals in his Galway constituency had embarked on a rumour campaign aimed at damaging his career.
Mr Fahey made the allegations last June following a period of sustained media interest in his business and property concerns.
He made a formal statement to the Garda in Galway and an investigation was begun. He told gardaí he believed some of those behind the alleged rumour campaign may have put him under surveillance.
Once the written statement was made to gardaí he then refused to answer any further questions about his financial affairs because matters were under investigation.
However, the Irish Times has learned that following a near seven-month investigation by the Garda, nothing has been found to suggest the existence of a rumour campaign. In order for a Garda file on the case to be sent to the DPP, evidence of both a rumour campaign and of criminal intent behind that campaign would have been needed. There are currently no plans to submit a file on the matter to the DPP.
While the investigation has not been formally closed the substantive part has been completed. It is understood that further inquiries will only be made if new information comes to light.
A spokeswoman for Mr Fahey said the Minister of State had no comment to make.
During their investigation, gardaí contacted a number of journalists who last year wrote about Mr Fahey's interests in a bid to determine from whom the published information was being sourced.
A number of people allegedly linked to Mr Fahey in the rumours reported to gardaí were also interviewed. Among these was Kevin McHugh, the fishing fleet owner, who died last October.
During his period as minister for the marine and natural resources between 2000 and 2002, Mr Fahey was involved in controversy because of a decision to allocate a significant proportion of the Irish mackerel quota to the factory ship Celtic Dawn, owned by Mr McHugh.
Last year Mr Fahey was forced to defend his multimillion European property portfolio, which includes houses and apartments in Ireland, France, Belgium, Portugal and the US.
In Ireland alone, Mr Fahey owns, or has shares in, shops and development land as well as six houses and 10 apartments.
He denied reports that he had failed to disclose a property at Perthshire Road in Boston, Massachusetts, saying he had no interest in it.
He also denied that the property was registered to Fahey Higgins LLC, a Boston-based property company, in which he is a shareholder.
He denied that he was a part-owner of a hairdressing salon company in Moscow despite the discovery of documents apparently linking him to the salon.
Mr Fahey's declaration of interests for 2005 includes interests in 20 property projects in Ireland and seven more abroad. Many of the properties were purchased in the US, Europe and Ireland with his wife and a company called Sage Developments.
He was involved in a controversy over his property interests abroad in 2000 when it emerged that his name was on the title deeds of a property in Daytona Beach, Florida, that was not disclosed on the register of TDs' interests.
Mr Fahey said he had no beneficial interest in the property but had put his name on the title deeds as guarantor for a friend, John Cahill.
