Whistleblowers ‘shouted down’ for raising homicide fears

IT took “15 months of torment” to bring Lois West and Laura Galligan before a panel of TDs and senators. They found themselves in “an incredibly lonely place” and felt “very isolated” that Garda top brass undermined their work and cast aside “explosive” details of a homicide review.

As civilian members of An Garda Síochána dealing with statistics, they were effectively anonymous cogs in the wheel of justice.

But after almost four hours in Leinster House yesterday, the analysts have put themselves front and centre of a controversy that has the potential to blow the fake breath tests row out of the water.

There were two elements to their evidence. Firstly, they uncovered a level of “slack” and “inconsistent” recording of crime that was high enough to warrant serious concern. Even today, there may be women who have no idea that they are in relationships with partners who have a history of serious domestic abuse.

The second element laid bare was the culture of denial in An Garda Síochána. After raising problems, Ms West and Ms Galligan were “shouted down” and pressurised to sign-off on a report they knew to be misleading.

Ms West was left “aghast” when their own report was dismissed by the Garda hierarchy.

“The fact Ms Galligan and I are sitting here today is not a decision we took lightly. Our views were not taken seriously enough,” Ms West said.

“Had we not had each other, this would have been incredibly difficult.”

Even when they turned to the independent Policing Authority for help, somebody “told tales” and senior management found out.

But they turned to the politicians because of “very genuine concerns that a person may be living in a vulnerable situation”.

Ms Galligan told the Oireachtas Justice Committee: “This isn’t a statistics issue. We never said it was. At the heart of this is the victim and families.”

Their efforts received widespread praise from the politicians, with Labour’s Alan Kelly saying they were “the two best witnesses I’ve ever seen at a committee”.

Mick Wallace said: “You are two powerful women and fair play to you.”

They were described by Senator Frances Black as “a breath of fresh air”.

Fianna Fáil’s Jack Chambers thanked them for a “very courageous” presentation.

Fine Gael Senator Martin Conway talked about their “steely approach to do the right thing”. “It’s what the country needs,” he said.

Asked if they believed the culture in An Garda Síochána had changed, Ms West replied: “I guess there’s always times when fundamental things happen that force through change. I hope this is one of them.”

Yet despite everything heard yesterday, serious concerns remain about what will be done to address data quality into 2018.

This is a scandal that can’t be washed away as ‘more of it’.