Michael Clifford: Old-fashioned stroke that undermines our police force

Yesterday’s hearing at the Public Accounts Committee should set off alarm bells for anybody interested in policing, writes Michael Clifford.

It raised questions about the Government’s commitment to reform of An Garda Síochána. Even worse, the evidence tendered suggests that politicians are still, to this day, interfering in policing to serve their own grubby ends.

The matter at issue was the reopening of Stepaside Garda Station. Everybody this side of the grave knows that this was a pet project for Shane Ross, the local TD and minister for transport and sport.