McDowell blamed for low garda morale

MIDDLE-RANKING gardaí yesterday made a blistering attack on Justice Minister Michael McDowell blaming him for the morale crisis within the force.

The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) took a number of other swipes at the Tánaiste, in relation to the “disgraceful” lack of firearms, training-facilities and the state of the garda radio system.

Speaking directly to the Tánaiste at their annual delegate conference in Wexford, AGSI president Paschal Feeney accused the minister of bringing garda morale to its lowest level in a generation.

“I can honestly say colleagues, in my 35 years in An Garda Síochána, I have never witnessed such depths of despair among our members. We all know that the proceedings of the Morris Tribunal and the Barr Tribunal and the resultant fallout has a bearing on our morale, but I feel that there is an even more fundamental cause — the members feel they are isolated and that they are on their own.”

Mr Feeney said AGSI members were honest and hard-working and faced an extremely difficult task in policing.

“In the past, members could rely on the support and backing of garda management in carrying out their difficult and often dangerous tasks, but, sadly, that is no longer the case. Members are now being left by garda management to sink or swim on their own in terms of their day-to-day jobs.” He blamed Mr McDowell for the problem: “Tánaiste, in our opinion, this situation is being brought about by reason of weak management which in turn arises from your enactment of the Garda Síochána Act 2005.

“Under that Act your footprint now oversees all garda policy and you have a day-to-day control of the running of the garda organisation. This is having an adverse effect on frontline policing.”

Mr Feeney said there were certain aspects of the Barr report which the association did not agree with. He claimed the evidence was not there to support some of the conclusions.

While he did spell out what these issues were, it is thought they centre on conclusions in the Barr report which said family relatives and other people should be allowed to talk directly to a person under siege.

Mr Feeney welcomed the recent report from the Garda Inspectorate, which, he said, addressed “some of the imbalances” in the Barr Report.

The inspectorate said only trained gardaí should be involved in negotiations and that, as a general rule, the use of “third party intermediaries” should be avoided.

Mr Feeney said the decline in morale was compounded by breaches of trust by garda management, who, he claimed, were reneging on commitments under partnership.

He accused the Tánaiste and garda management of tearing up formal agreements in relation to civilianisation within the force.

He said this “ham-fisted” approach to management reached a high when gardaí working in the Garda Press Office were suddenly told on a Thursday to “clear off” by the following Monday, without any prior negotiation.