Public deserves full facts around holsters and who knew what at time of tragedies

THE killing of a garda is quite rightly one of the most heinous crimes both in the statute books and in society. The safety of members of An Garda Síochána has, despite ups and downs in the force’s relationship with the public, never failed to be a sacred touchstone of Irish life.

Despite disagreements over controversial decisions or courses of actions, An Garda Síochána is still held in high regard, particularly the courage gardaí display as they step up to the modern challenge of safeguarding peace in this Republic.

Indeed gardaí steadfastness during our darkest days, when the State was assailed by subversive elements, bringing the threat of bloodshed and chaos to our door is the bedrock on which its solid reputation and endurance is built.

In that context it is hard to understand, if proven to be true, the claims of a Garda whistleblower about raising significant safety concerns in 2019 about gun holsters issued to armed gardaí.

The whistleblower claims he made statements to Garda management and to GSOC well in advance of the tragic events of 2020 when a Garda suffered lifechanging injuries when his pistol discharged accidentally while stationed outside the Israeli embassy in Dublin and another Garda paid the ultimate sacrifice in the line of his duty.

Garda Colm Horkan’s death at the hands of Stephen Silver has always raised basic questions about how Mr Silver got Garda Horkan’s gun off him to shoot him several times.

These questions become more pressing as it emerges that the Gardaí were in possession of a list of detailed vulnerabilities concerning the gun holsters, well ahead of his tragic shooting at Castlerea, Co Roscommon.

We are not so foolish as to indict anybody on claims made in a protected disclosure.

We note, however, that GSOC only announced the investigation into Garda holsters subsequent to the fatal shooting of Garda Horkan.

We also note the holsters used in the tragic event were discontinued. We don’t pretend to know the full circumstances of these events, but we argue that the public deserves a full, proper and independent inquiry into who knew what and when about the fitness for purpose of the holsters used during the two tragedies.

The whistleblower has since then also made protected disclosures to Minister Helen McEntee and the Comptroller and Auditor General. The last communication with the Justice Minister took place last Monday where a summary and timeline of his interactions with the various arms of the State was delivered.

We have seen in the past how the failure to heed insights proffered by ordinary members of the Garda Síochána can lead to avoidable scandals, low morale and an unnecessary waste of resources in the country’s creaking justice system.

We believe that it is crucial that the full facts of this matter are established quickly and that any errors in procedure which led to the tragic outcomes are identified so that they can be eliminated and ultimately learned from and the gardaí protected from avoidable death or injury in future.