O’Sullivan was doomed to failure by weak-minded politicians
THREE cheers for our wonderful political system. It demanded a head and it got it. Ex-Garda commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan is gone and once again we go in search of a sticking plaster to cover a gaping wound.
Yes, we should have accountability but do we really expect that the commissioner was responsible for the inherited, historic difficulties that were manifest in this organisation long before she had the power to do anything about it? If this is the yardstick we use to judge those in high office, how can any of our elected politicians excuse themselves from the financial crash that devastated this country?
It would seem that should the words “financial crash” be mentioned, our Taoiseach only needs to point to the Fianna Fáil side of the Dáil and all is forgiven. Unfortunately, the commissioner didn’t have that luxury.
Our politicians were all collectively responsible for the crash, but how many have fallen on their swords? Nóirín O’Sullivan was handed a poisoned chalice and battled bravely without any help from her political masters to modernise a force, which unfortunately still has enough of the old guard to mount resistance against any such change.
It should not be forgotten that it was gardaí who patrol our roads that falsified the breath tests, and not the commissioner, which indicates an acceptance of such behaviour by at least some of the rank and file.
To change this ‘nod and wink’ mentality will take years and requires a root-and-branch reorganisation of the force by a determined and experienced commissioner. Unfortunately, as long as any commissioner is controlled by unqualified, weakminded politicians, who view the world through the narrow window of a constituency office, it’s all doomed to fail. It is said that all political careers end in failure – in truth, the same applies for commissioners. Eugene McGuinness Kilkenny city