Force promises to act on tribunal findings

AN Garda Siochána yesterday said it would act on the findings of the Morris Tribunal as soon as possible.

A Garda spokesman said it was “a dark day” for the force, but stressed the vast majority of officers behaved professionally.

“We have the report, we have the evidence, now we have to do something about it,” said Superintendent John Farrelly, senior Garda spokesman.

He said Commissioner Noel Conroy had set up a working group, chaired by Deputy Commissioner Peter Fitzgerald, to examine the 519-page interim report.

“We will have those recommendations dealt with as speedily as possible. It’s not something that will develop over a number of months.”

He accepted criticisms in the report regarding lack of communication and the propensity of people to “bury their heads”.

Supt Farrelly said gardaí were not superhuman. “At the same time, if they do wrong they should not be in the organisation. The minister correctly says this is a dark day for An Garda Siochána, but the vast majority of gardaí behave professionally,” he said.

He said that despite the training given to gardaí it was human nature for an individual who finds he is going to be collared to tell lies.

He said the events dealt with in the report referred to events in 1993 and 1994. He said that since then there had been a number of structural changes, such as decentralisation, with assistant commissioners in each part of the country.

“I certainly don’t believe there is anything out there of the magnitude of behaviour as happened up in Donegal. No doubt if there was somebody would come forward and tell us.”

Supt Farrelly said he wasn’t personally aware of what was going on in Donegal before it was exposed.

“I wouldn’t be the type of guy that would see that type of behaviour and accept it. I’ve seen people do their job as best they can, even in the most difficult of circumstances.”

He said he did not accept that garda colleagues behaved like hedgehogs when confronted with unprofessional behaviour by other gardaí.

“There are many cases where members have given evidence on oath in relation to other guards’ criminal activities.”

A spokesman for the Association of Garda Sergeants & Inspectors (AGSI) declined to comment on the report.

“This is a huge report. We need time for our executive to read it to consider its implications and decide on a further course of action.”

A spokesman for the Garda Representative Association (GRA) said: “We accept the findings of the interim report by Judge Morris.”

He said they only got the report yesterday and there was a lot of information to digest.

“It will really be a couple of days before we have formulated a detailed view. But we accept the report.”