Gardaí must act

The recommendations of the Garda Inspectorate report on crime investigation should be implemented without delay. For everyone’s sake.

The gardaí are still all that stand between a reasonable level of peace and security and a living nightmare of criminals running amok. Bad practices and weaknesses must be weeded out and zero tolerance shown to any member who deviates from the highest standards set for members of the force.

The Morris Tribunal exposed disturbing levels of Garda mismanagement and misbehaviour in Donegal, the penalty points issue shone a worrying spotlight on the way some drivers got preferential treatment while others had to pay their fines in the normal way, and there are concerns about how gardaí have managed informants within criminal gangs and paramilitary groups.

One should not be dismissed as ‘anti-Garda’ for highlighting these unacceptable activities. We know that whistleblowers who tried to expose failures and bad practice were ostracised and otherwise unfairly treated for their efforts.

Members of the Garda Síochána have laid down their lives for us, for the communities they served. Others have sustained horrific injuries in the course of their work.

The overwhelming majority of guards, whatever about ‘inefficient processes and poor management’ issues within the force, are decent, dedicated men and women who serve with distinction and in whom we can take pride and put our trust. Without them, life would be unbearable and our society would be com- pletely at the mercy of the kind of charmers seen on Love/Hate.

We owe it to them to ensure the force commands a high level of public respect and confidence and that it is not besmirched by administrative deficiencies or the behaviour of a few bad apples. John Fitzgerald, Callan, Co.Kilkenny.