Cost of new system estimated at €100m

SOMEONE could be killed in the line of duty because of the crumbling garda radio system, GRA delegates were told yesterday.

Greg Fogarty, who has escorted cash in transit for many years, warned someone could die because of an inability to call for backup during an armed robbery.

He said: "I will say this quite categorically, a tragedy will happen."

Delegates voted to press garda management on the urgency of replacing the existing near 20-year-old system, arguing there are frequent black spots and that it is not secure.

Two pilot projects for a new secure and digital Tetra system have operated for a number of years in Dublin. But the cost of national rollout is estimated at €100 million.

Members use their own mobile phones and some delegates called for a national switch off, a move that could lead to a communications collapse and force the government to release money.

A delegate described one incident in Cork, where a member destroyed his mobile while rescuing a woman from the River Lee. He was refused a replacement, she claimed.

In a separate incident, the radio used by a motor bike garda failed as he chased an armed robber. He could not communicate with a helicopter above and had to step off his bike and ask a passerby to phone 999, delegates heard.

It was also claimed that gardaí providing security for an EU meeting at Druids Glen had one radio for every five members.

Newly elected GRA president Dermot O'Donnell said he believes gardaí involved in tribunals have been judged guilty in the court of public opinion.

The presumption of innocence, he said, does not appear to apply to those connected to the Barr and Morris Tribunals.

The Morris Tribunal is investigating allegations of misconduct by some gardaí in Donegal while Mr Justice Barr is presiding over the Abbeylara inquiry.

Mr O'Donnell called for legislation to cut short tribunals. "People are rearing their families through the time taken for these tribunals to progress," he said.

"Are you, as a parent, going to watch you child be confirmed and then see them being dispatched to college by the time a tribunal finishes."

The stress and strain of living in the shadow of tribunal accusations affects spouses and children of those gardaí involved, he said. Mr O'Donnell said even witnesses and those on the periphery are affected.