Courage badly needed in era of new politics

LEO Varadkar presents himself as the new face of Irish politics: a young, dynamic, no-nonsense Taoiseach, who has universal appeal. Since assuming the leadership of Fine Gael and the country, he has spoken on the burning issues of the day with authority, eloquence and frankness. Few will dispute that Mr Varadkar is a politician of his time.

However, nothing typifies the disconnect between appearance and reality more than the debacle surrounding Stepaside Garda Station. It has now emerged that crime rates in the Stepaside area had dropped significantly in the period leading up to the Cabinet’s decision to reopen the station. This did not prevent Garda management from recommending that the station – in the heart of Transport Minister Shane Ross’s constituency – be reopened for reasons of ‘population growth’.

The accusation that this is yet more ‘stroke politics’ is not entirely unfounded. After all, Mr Ross made the reopening of Stepaside central to his re-election campaign.

The fact that former Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan supported his bid begs all the obvious questions.

If Mr Varadkar is genuine in seeking to usher in a period of new politics, he could start by putting clear blue water between the Government and An Garda Síochána.

That is because, in a democracy, the police force must have relative autonomy from the Government. Otherwise, the guardians of the law become servants to politicians, rather than the people.

As things stand, there are no less than five agencies concerned with policing – all of them answerable to the Oireachtas.

If we are to avoid further Garda-related scandals, we need a single independent authority with statutory powers to investigate, regulate and provide appropriate oversight of An Garda Síochána.

Only then can the public have full confidence that the police are completely autonomous. In the meantime, Mr Varadkar must learn that new politics means much more than eloquently expressing your convictions. If anything, it means having the courage to put them into practice.