Whistleblowing in the Irish Military—An Academic and Professional Journey

There are many explorations within the literature on whistleblowing on the nature of whistleblowing itself. Is it a solitary existential act on the part of an individual?—Or is it a de-facto collective social phenomenon?. This chapter outlines the experience of the author who as a serving army officer—Captain—in the Irish Defence Forces, completed a PhD at Dublin City University from 1996 to 2000. The research question—approved of by both the military authorities and the postgraduate research committee of the university—consisted of an audit of ‘The Status and Roles of Female Personnel in the Irish Defence Forces’. This research uncovered shockingly high levels of bullying, sexual harassment and sexual violence directed towards female soldiers of all ranks. On successful examination and publication of the research—in what Transparency International (Ireland) describe as a ‘Text book case of Whistleblower Reprisal’—the author immediately experienced a vicious campaign of reprisal from the military authorities. Amid threats of criminal prosecution—for alleged breaches of the Official Secrets Act—physical assault and character assassination, the author successfully lobbied for an independent government enquiry to investigate his research and findings. In 2002, the Irish government’s ‘Study Review Group’ vindicated the author’s findings and conclusions. The Irish Defence Forces have subsequently been scrutinized by successive external oversight groups—and in 2024, the Irish government finally established a formal Judge-led enquiry to investigate the workplace culture of the Irish military. This chapter tells the story of this whistleblowing journey and contextualizes it against many of those hypotheses about whistleblowing and whistleblowers as set out in the literature. The chapter concludes that universities must have a firm and ethical commitment to academic freedom and a duty of care towards their researchers in order to vindicate the public interest.