Garda morale on the floor, says AGSI

Middle-ranking gardaí have told Justice Minister Alan Shatter that morale “was on the floor” and their work was being “undermined” because of the controversies hitting the force.

However, Mr Shatter was not at the annual conference of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors yesterday to hear the remarks.

Mr Shatter declined an invitation to give the traditional ministerial address at the conference ,as it clashed with personal religious commitments with the beginning of the Jewish festival of Passover.

AGSI president Tim Galvin said he hoped Mr Shatter’s decision did not put further strain on his relationship with the group.

“I can’t call it a snub,” Mr Galvin said. “He was invited. He didn’t come down. That’s the end of it. There’s nothing we can do. It’s a pity. It’s his decision.”

A spokeswoman for Mr Shatter has said he was unable to attend as Passover commenced last night and he had a commitment to keep. She said he also had to travel to Luxembourg early this morning to attend a meeting of EU defence ministers.

Mr Shatter’s absence from the conference comes at one of the most difficult times for the force, something Mr Galvin stressed in his speech to delegates.

“Because of current controversies and our ever-expanding workload, morale is on the floor within An Garda Síochána,” said Mr Galvin. “Despite the minister’s best spin, over the last few years that all is fine, this is not the case.”

He said the name of the force had been “pilloried in the media and in the Dáil”, adding that this was to do with governance and how the force was run, and nothing to do with the supervisory ranks.

“All of these headlines make the job people have to do on the street much harder and more stressful,” said Mr Galvin. “The work that is being done by our members operationally on the ground is being undermined by the current controversies, not of our making.”

Mr Galvin said they only had one opportunity every year to talk to the justice minister directly and raise issues of major concern.

“Someone had to take responsibility for running the guards,” he said.

Mr Galvin urged Mr Shatter to expand the review of An Garda Síochána — under the Haddington Road Agreement — to include the general public.

Mr Galvin said the review involves only the gardaí and Department of Justice. He pointed out that it was 44 years since the last review of the Garda organisation.

“We are now calling on you [minister] to engage widely to determine the role and function of the police service into the future,” said Mr Galvin.

“We are not afraid of what we will be told because we know the public are confident in the service delivered at the coal face. Any criticism levied at this great organisation at this point in time concerns governance.”

Mr Galvin said AGSI had called for a Garda authority over 15 years ago, but “it fell on deaf ears”.