Journalist Paul Williams has denied telling a garda press officer he was writing a damaging article on Sergeant Maurice McCabe.

Mr Williams gave evidence to the Disclosures Tribunal regarding his contact with 'Ms D', who claimed Sergeant McCabe had sexually abused her as a child.

Counsel for Superintendent Dave Taylor put it to Mr Williams that he had called the garda press officer and told him he was about to write an article that was very damaging to Maurice McCabe.

Mr Williams said that was absolutely not the case.

Mr Williams had met with 'Ms D' in 2014 in an interview facilitated by her father, a garda and Superintendent John O’Reilly.

Mr Williams denied that he was a puppet of gardaí seeking to smear the ggarda whistleblower, Maurice McCabe.

Chairman Peter Charleton also asked Mr Williams if he was too close to gardaí and lacking in objectivity as a result - to which he replied 'certainly not'.