Airport worker who made Gerry Hutch support video fails to get clearance restored

Tim Healy

A Dublin Airport worker has failed to get the High Court to restore his security clearance after it was removed over his alleged "ability to facilitate nefarious activity" allegedly because he made a video in support of Gerry 'the Monk' Hutch's election campaign.

However, Christopher Doyle (34), an aircraft mechanic at Dublin Aerospace since June 2022, is entitled to a new appeal against the decision to revoke his clearance after failing a garda “security intelligence check”, rendering him unable to work, Mr Justice Michael Twomey ruled.

Mr Doyle claimed the failed security check arose from an incident in November 2024,when he recorded another Dublin Aerospace employee pledging his support for Gerry Hutch who narrowly missed out on winning a Dáil seat in the 2024 general election campaign.

Mr Hutch has been named in court as head of an organised crime group.

WhatsApp message

Mr Doyle says he did not share the video to social media, but sent it to a number of his friends in a WhatsApp message. However, the video eventually surfaced on social media, where it was posted to various platforms by accounts connected to Mr Hutch’s campaign.

His employer, Dublin Aerospace, held an inquiry at which he apologised and he was issued with a verbal warning with no further sanction.

The next day however, the DAA, which was a notice party in the case, informed him his airport identification card had been suspended.

The Garda Commissioner is ultimately responsible for undertaking security checks of Dublin Airport employees and had refused to renew his card.

In December 2024, Mr Doyle appealed the decision.

.In April, Mr Doyle said the Commissioner declined his appeal.

The Commissioner stated: “In my view, given what is known in relation to a number of your associates, a risk potentially arises around your ability to facilitate nefarious activity within restricted areas of the airport thus creating what I consider to be an unacceptable security threat to Dublin Airport and by extension the State."

Mr Doyle says he has no criminal convictions and is not involved in criminality. He says that as far as he is aware, none of his family or associates have any links to criminality and none are involved in any conduct that would justify withdrawing his security clearance.

He says he was not told until sometime later that it was the gardaí and not the airport authority which provided clearance.

Mr Doyle's solicitor asked the Garda Commissioner to provide full reasons for the decision to revoke his clearance. When the appeal was declined, he brought High Court proceedings.

Appeal

In his judgment ordering a new appeal, Mr Justice Twomey said it was clear when the Commissioner decided the appeal, Mr. Doyle, did not know what the reasons for the decision were.

"if a person does not know why a decision was made against him, how can he meaningfully appeal that decision?", the judge asked.

It seemed to the court that the Commissioner conducted the appeal without Mr Doyle being in a position to make any meaningful submissions on it, he said.

The appeal affirming the decision was unlawful because of a breach of fair procedures so as to enable Mr Doyle to participate meaningfully in the appeal as this reason was not secret and sensitive intelligence, he said.

However, he said the decision to deny Mr Doyle security clearance because of an unacceptable security threat to the State has not been set aside.

It followed therefore that he was not entitled to the immediate return of his clearance card but he is entitled to appeal its withdrawal and be granted fair procedures in relation to the conduct of that appeal, he said.

"That appeal may or may not uphold the decision to remove Mr Doyle's security clearance", he said.