GMIT probes failed to interview whistleblower

A whistleblower lecturer who highlighted to superiors an incident of plagiarism at Galway Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT), was not interviewed as part of two subsequent internal investigations into the scandal, the college has confirmed.

The revelation substantiates the suspicion that the unprecedented external investigation into plagiarism at GMIT centres primarily on a suspected cover-up of the incident by senior staff and management, rather than the plagiarism itself.

The incident of plagiarism relates to a masters student at the School of Business in 2009. An initial investigation was carried out; and when damaging revelations were made in this newspaper two more internal probes about the incident were launched by GMIT.

This week, the college has admitted that the lecturer who initially reported the matter to superiors was only interviewed as part of one of those investigations.

The lecturer was not questioned as part of two of them, it confirmed.

“The lecturer who brought the issue to the attention of senior management was interviewed in the course of one of the internal reviews carried out at the time,” GMIT confirmed.

Meanwhile, GMIT President Michael Carmody has again declined to publish the report of the two external investiagtors, which cost hundreds of thousands of tax payers money to produce.

“In relation to the investigation, the issue of possible disciplinary action is being considered, and pending an outcome of any such process, it is not intended at this time to publish the report,” he said.

The external investigation, which has cost GMIT in excess of €400,000, has been completed and a report is with President Michael Carmody for some moths now.

It was charged with exposing whether there was an internal cover-up of the incident by senior staff within GMIT. The external investigation, which is also charged with exposing whether the cheating incident was “suppressed, concealed or covered up” by staff within the institute, was launched in April 2011.

It was launched following a series of damaging revelations in this newspaper about the cheating incident and suspected cover-up.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.