Delay appointing Garda chief risks more damage

THE head of the Policing Authority, Josephine Feehily, is not the only one “troubled” by the notion that it could take up to two years to fill the Garda commissioner vacancy.

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan is similarly perturbed. The Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland feels that a lacuna is needed given the scale and complexity of problems facing An Garda Síochána.

Obviously time is needed to assess and analyse, but one might expect that, given the number of reports already compiled – many identifying the same problems – the process ought not be dragged out indefinitely.

There is also an argument to be made that the new commissioner might have valuable insights in helping resolve some of the issues that have for so long gone unresolved.

But the task is not helped by the fact there are so many actors involved, between commissions, authorities, and the Department of Justice. Ms Feehily acknowledges that while the authority will have a significant responsibility regarding the specification on the role, the actual competition will be run by the Public Appointments Service. But if the Government takes the advice of the commission literally, and stalls the process for 12 months, then it could be a further nine months, taking us up until summer 2019 before a new Garda commissioner is appointed.

With morale in the ranks already recognised to be at an all-time low, such a delay might risk doing further damage.