‘Isolated’ Harris is being kept as ‘political firewall’
THE Government is subtly moving away from Garda Commissioner Drew Harris as he becomes isolated within the force, senior Cabinet sources told the Irish Mail on Sunday this weekend.
However, ministers say the timeline of a potential break with the Commissioner must be ‘timed well’ as he provides a ‘firewall’ between the growing controversy and politicians.
‘It would appear from our observations that [Commissioner] Harris is becoming increasingly isolated within the force and has managed to fall out with every section of it,’ said a senior Government source. ‘There is a perception that Minister [Helen] McEntee is very close to the Commissioner, which is natural for a Minister for Justice and the top garda.
‘But this is only ending one way with Harris having alienated everyone in the force and quite a few in the political establishment.
They added: ‘Yet it is quite an achievement to fall out with the rank and file [Garda Representatives Association], the middle management [AGSI] in the Gardaí and we understand that a number in the upper echelons of the force are also increasingly concerned about his style.
‘However, the fear in Government is that were the commissioner to go suddenly, or even in the next six months, the political firewall is gone. Then who’s next?
‘All focus will turn to the Minister for Justice, and she’ll be in real trouble then.
‘So the minister needs to lead the Government’s slow separation from the commissioner, but don’t doubt he is holed beneath the water now.’
Meanwhile, sources at the Department of Justice said last night the Minister for Justice and the rest of Government retain confidence in Drew Harris, even if most of the force do not.
Last week rank-and-file gardaí threatened industrial action if the stand-off with Mr Harris over the re-implementation of a pre-Covid roster system is not resolved. Members of the GRA are planning to decline to work voluntary overtime on the five Tuesdays in October – dates that include Halloween and Budget Day.
They have also said they will continue to operate the current roster system of four days on and four days off when the old system is due to come back into effect on November 6. GRA members have said they will fully withdraw their labour on November 10. The exchange of public barbs between Garda representative organisations and the Commissioner have reached unprecedented levels.
The GRA – 99% of whom expressed no confidence in the commissioner in a recent ballot – also said last week its relationship with him is ‘in many ways irreparable’, and accused the top officer of having ‘invited conflict’.
Mr Harris, speaking to reporters after a meeting with the Policing Authority, said gardaí will be expected to comply with a roster change planned for November 6.
‘We are a disciplined organisation,’ he said. ‘Individuals have already been informed what their duties are and they will be expected to parade for duty on those days.’
Many thought Justice Minister McEntee was trying to distance herself from Mr Harris when she spoke in Brussels this week.
‘There’s nobody, and that means the Garda commissioner nor the Garda associations, who believe that either the current roster or the previous and incumbent roster is the right roster moving forward,’ said Ms McEntee. ‘We all want to negotiate a new roster that is suitable for the needs of the public today and that, of course, works for members of An Garda Síochána. Talks are still ongoing.’
However, some sources at the Department of Justice insisted that this was not distancing, but leaving the matters to the force.
‘Rosters are just horrifically complicated,’ said a source. ‘The minister can’t sit down and do them on a spreadsheet can she?’
‘Don’t doubt he is holed beneath the water now’