How Cabinet subtly pushed O’Sullivan out of Garda HQ
It didn’t need a late-night call to her home to convince the Commissioner to quit, writes Philip Ryan
ON the face of it, the sudden retirement of Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan seems like another coup for Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and his government.
Her political capital had waned considerably in recent months and it was becoming increasingly difficult for Varadkar’s new administration to back a Commissioner when so many garda indiscretions seemed to continue under her watch.
The bind was that they could not be seen to force her from her position by suggesting a lack of confidence, or talking her down while she was still in the job. The Attorney General’s office had warned the Cabinet that should they do so, O’Sullivan would have grounds for an unfair-dismissal case, which could have resulted in a messy High Court action and a substantial payout.
The Garda Commissioner of the day is entitled to the support of the Cabinet, and if that support diminishes in any form, it could be argued that the position of the person in place would be no longer tenable. But frustration was building within Government over the Commissioner’s suitability for the job. In July, at the height of the Templemore Garda Training College controversy, it emerged that she was about to start a five-week holiday — a very generous break by anyone’s standards.
Before leaving, O’Sullivan contacted Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan to tell him she would be gone for the entirety of August. During the conversation, she indicated she was considering applying for a position with the European Union police force Europol.
A senior Government source said Mr Flanagan was “left in no doubt” after speaking to the Commissioner that she planned to put her name forward for the role.
Speaking to the Sunday Independent last week, he said: “I was informed that she was in the course of applying for a job.”
However, in her statement last Sunday, O’Sullivan said she had been “encouraged” by international colleagues to apply for the job, but insisted she “did not proceed with the application”. The Government, naturally, could not publicly criticise the Commissioner for applying for another job, or for taking annual leave.
But, privately, anger was building within Cabinet over the Commissioner’s decision to leave the country while ministers were left to pick up the pieces from the Templemore slush-fund controversy. O’Sullivan’s decision to express an interest in another position, which eventually became public knowledge, also did not suggest dedication to the job.
Around the same time, the Policing Authority completed a review of the implementation of reforms in An Garda Siochana. The report was published last week, but it was given to the Justice Minister in August.
It did not make good reading for her.
Senior gardai claimed that they had implemented 50 reforms set out by Garda Inspectorates, but when the authority inspected the matter, they found just nine had been completed. Most worryingly, gardai seemed to be grossly exaggerating, if not lying, about what reforms had been carried out.
“It is of concern to the authority that a recommendation with a very specific outcome [the production of a strategy document] was marked as complete, when there was not even a draft strategy in place,” the report stated. Like the Government, the Policing Authority had become increasingly disillu- sioned with the senior ranks of the force and their ability to implement the changes need to restore confidence in An Garda Siochana.
A senior Justice source said the report was not the nail in the coffin for O’Sullivan, but it did not help her case.
On August 31, a senior civil servant informed Mr Flanagan that O’Sullivan was “reflecting” on her position and “maybe considering retiring” when she returned from her summer holidays. The minister then passed on the information to the Taoiseach.
Next up was the internal garda reports on fake breathalyser tests, and a separate report on the wrongful conviction of thousands of motorists following a legal blunder by gardai. Both reports, but especially the revelations surrounding the falsification of roadside breath tests, seriously damaged the reputation of the country’s police force. Understandably, politicians and citizens were aghast at the idea that gardai were flagrantly making up breathalyser statistics and that the behaviour was so widespread it was almost part of the culture in the force.
Opposition parties predictably called for the Commissioner to stand aside. The Government insisted the malpractice was historical and that she could not be solely blamed for a culture that developed before she took up office. But patience was running out.
The reports were published on Wednesday, September 7. The following day, Flanagan sat down with the Sunday Independent to speak about the scandal and the Commissioner’s future in the force.
The minister called for “zero tolerance” for those found to be responsible for the fake tests; a mammoth task, given that it could involve reviewing more than half-amillion roadside checkpoints.
But it was what the minister did not say which proved more interesting.
He said he had confidence in O’Sullivan but, despite being asked four times, would not say if he believed she would still be in her position in a year’s time.
He also refused to say if he was disappointed, or not, by the Commissioner’s decision to apply for a job with Europol while the force was still gripped by controversy.
A source close to the minister said he was not prepared to “put his neck on the line” for her given that he knew she was considering her position. The same source also noted that the minister’s comments, or lack thereof, was the first notable “chink” in the Government’s support of the Commissioner.
Flanagan has taken a noticeably tougher line on Garda scandals than his predecessor, Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald. He has dressed-down senior gardai in his office and called for heads over the breath-test scandal. He also clearly stated he would act on the recommendations of a forthcoming Policing Authority report on the breath tests, which is expected to call for an overhaul of senior Garda management.
Sources close to the minister believe that O’Sullivan “definitely” read between the lines of his comments in last Sunday’s newspaper and realised the Government’s confidence had dried up.
At around 5.45pm on Sunday evening, an official statement announcing her retirement was issued by the Garda press office. The Commissioner said support for her to remain in her position was “evident” but, nonetheless, she had notified the minister and Taoiseach of her decision to step down. The Government breathed a sigh of relief. The Opposition had called for her head for months, so there will be no backlash as there was when Martin Callinan “retired”.
A late-night call to the Commissioner’s home, as was the case the night before Mr Callinan’s shock retirement, was not needed to convince O’Sullivan to hang up her badge.
However, a subtle repositioning of the Government’s public stance on the Commissioner signalled the end of her short-lived career as the head of the country’s police force.
‘Not the nail in her coffin, but reforms report did not help her case’