GARDA CHIEF’S 646 WORDS TO SAVE HER SKIN
Force faces losing its name O’Sullivan issues trenchant memo
BESIEGED Garda chief Nóirín O’Sullivan has launched a trenchant bid to save her position – and in it she admits to fellow gardaí that the force has lost public’s trust.
The internal memo was released to gardaí on Friday, just a day after the Commissioner faced a barrage of questions by TDs about her own responsibilities in recent Garda scandals.
The statement, signed by Senior Garda Management, comes as pressure continues to mount on Ms O’Sullivan. Junior Government partners, the Independent Alliance, is demanding changes so radical that An Garda Síochána may have to lose the name it has proudly borne – as guardians of the peace – since the foundation of the State.
They are insisting on a root and branch review of
the force, similar to the Patten investigation that saw the end of the RUC in the North’s Peace Process.
The review was re-announced by the Government in recent days but is in fact the one the Independent Alliance agreed with the Taoiseach a number of weeks ago.
Two of the ministers involved in the discussion with Fine Gael at the time confirmed that a memo will be brought to Cabinet to establish a Patten-style review along the lines of the one agreed weeks ago.
Former British Conservative Minister Chris Patten conducted a review of the old RUC, 18 years ago, which led to a complete overhaul and it being rebranded as the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). Finian McGrath, the Independent Alliance ‘super junior’ minister who sits at Cabinet said: ‘A name change has to be on the table, because if you have a new police force you have to have a new brand and a new modern idea of policing and of honest policing. You have to have promotions built on merit.’
The internal Garda memo is 646 words long, addressed to all gardaí, and was published after 4pm on Friday on the Garda internal intranet portal. Issued to more than 14,000 gardaí it admits they are at a ‘crossroads’ and urges all ranks to place ‘the code of ethics’ at the ‘centre of everything’.
Though signed by Senior Garda Management, any such memo would have been directly approved by the Commissioner, sources confirmed.
‘A lot in Cabinet think gardaí just don’t get it’
A senior source told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘This memo shows that there is a willingness for the establishment to change, and it has been widely welcomed by serving gardaí, given the turbulent few weeks we have been having. The Commissioner does have the support of colleagues despite calls for her resignation.’
The memo begins: ‘The significant and grave issues relating to An Garda Síochána operation of breath-testing and Fixed Charge Notices have brought shame on our proud organisation. The result of all this has been significant loss of trust by the public which as the national policing and security services we cannot afford.’
‘Every single member of the organisation including supervisors and managers must recognise that their individual actions in all areas of policing, reflect on the organisation as a whole and impact on the trust between ourselves and the communities we serves.’
And it ends with the comment: ‘Every one of us have a duty to inform the organisation if we come across poor practice or have concerns about how we operate. Please bring this to light and rest assured it will be thoroughly examined.
‘We are all determined to ensure that An Garda Síochána provides a policing service in line with public expectations. It is what the county deserves, it is what its citizens deserve and it is what you deserve.’
The memo comes as the organisation faces unprecedented challenge to its position of trust in society, a fact confirmed by the importance the junior Coalition partner is attaching to the forthcoming review.
Mr McGrath told the MoS: ‘Everything has to be on the table, because the Garda brand has been damaged seriously with the public. I’m not interested in people scoring political points, and having great craic out of it like some of my colleagues in opposition.
‘Over the last few days, there has a been a huge dent in confidence in the gardaí. They have to be up for reform. The downside is a lot of the Cabinet think the Garda just don’t get it, and that has to change.’
Some Government sources said the review is a reaction to the most recent controversies – errors with fixed-charged notices, misrepresentation of alcohol breath tests and financial irregularities at Templemore Garda college.
However, the other Independent Alliance Cabinet Minister, Shane Ross, says that the review, agreed in mid-February, had already been advanced. He said: ‘This is an expansion of what the Independent Alliance agreed a few weeks ago, to set up an independent and external expert to investigate the culture of the guards from top to bottom. The project was to include advertising internationally for an independent investigator with a global reputation.’ Fine Gael ministers also confirmed last night that drastic action has to be taken over the gardaí.
‘They have lost an awful lot of credibility, and maybe just changing the Commissioner won’t work alone, there has to be a massive cultural change,’ said a Fine Gael minister. In February Mr Kenny found himself mired in a controversy over the handling of vile and false allegations made against Garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe. Mr Kenny had forgotten a meeting he had with Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone and had elaborated on a meeting that had not occurred. The Independent Alliance had considered pulling out of Government.
However, on February 15 they said they had secured an independent review of Garda operations, following a meeting with the Taoiseach. Mr McGrath confirmed that a memo is being prepared for Cabinet on the proposals. He said: ‘Frances Fitzgerald is bringing a memo to Cabinet on our proposals, that is being worked on at the moment. We hope that Minister Fitzgerald will have a memo for Cabinet in the next week or so.’
It is understood the Independent Alliance said that the person to head up the overhaul should be of the level of Nuala O’Loan or Denis Bradley or Chris Patten who were all involved in transforming the RUC into the PSNI.
Mr Bradley, a former Catholic Bishop of Manchester, could be considered for this review.
Mr McGrath added that he would be in favour of some proposals by Fianna Fáil. He said: ‘Fianna Fáil has come along and talked about giving the Police Authority more power. We’re in favour of that.’
FG ministers also said drastic action is needed john.lee@mailonsunday.ie