The Commissioner is not for resigning

‘ANGELA Merkel thinks we’re at work’ was the hilarious banner held up by Ireland fans at Euro 2012 in Poland.

Not quite as witty was Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan’s assertion yesterday that her reforms of An Garda Síochána are “working”.

If this was intended as a joke, this was roll-in-the-aisles laughing material. Give the Commissioner a stand-up comedy gig as soon as possible.

The Garda chief is expected to survive calls for her head today.

No doubt the Independent ministers will march to the top of the hill at the Cabinet meeting this morning. How tedious. There’ll be a statement full of reservations issued later. Fianna Fáil will hum and haw about its support. But Taoiseach Enda Kenny and the favourite to succeed him, Leo Varadkar, yesterday stood full square behind the Commissioner. So she’s safe for now.

On the substantive issue of Garda blunders around prosecutions for penalty points offences and inflated breath test figures, Ms O’Sullivan admits the discrepancies are unacceptable.

“It is a matter of huge disappointment to us that this has occurred,” she said.

Despite knowing about the problem for a number of years, it didn’t dawn on Garda management to notify any regulatory authorities.

The Commissioner is now going to seek to establish why it happened, with reports due in a week, a month and three months. As for the buck stopping at the top: not a hope. The Commissioner is not for resigning.