Taoiseach enters the eye of the storm

“Another investigation of paper behind closed doors will be wholly inadequate in addressing the real concerns about policing, which is a fundamental branch of the administration of the State.”

This might sound like the probing words of an opposition TD in the Dáil yesterday as the Government announced another review relating to gardaí. But they’re not.

These were the words of TD Brendan Howlin when he was pressing for a tribunal of inquiry into allegations of Garda misconduct in Donegal in 2001. The then Fianna Fáil-led government had just announced a barrister-led review of claims about gardaí, much to the disgust of then opposition TDs such as Mr Howlin and Alan Shatter. It lasted six weeks before a full tribunal was finally agreed.