Over 900 gardaí give feedback on reform

More than 900 gardaí have responded to Interim Commissioner Noirín O’Sullivan’s call for reform suggestions in the wake of recent scandals.

The acting commissioner said she was encouraged by the level of feedback to the online survey launched a week ago, and urged more gardaí to contribute before the April 27 deadline.

She declined to comment on the issues gardaí have raised so far, but confirmed she will chair a summit of senior force brass in Templemore at the end of the month to review and consider all the suggestions, and prioritise which areas need to be addressed immediately.

“As of today, almost 900 people have given us feedback. And that’s very, very, good because we’re only in day six of the survey,” she said. “We need to give more people an opportunity over the next two weeks to contribute. We’ve almost 16,000 in the force. They have very valuable experience and we want to hear from them.”

She was speaking in Knocknaheeny on Cork’s northside yesterday where she attended the official presentation of a new community Garda bus, met local residents, and continued her tour of Garda stations around the country to meet frontline staff.

“Days like today are what our organisation are all about,” she said.

“Despite all the recent controversies we’ve had, the support we continue to have from the communities is very much due to the relationships and partnerships that our members, day to day on the ground, have with communities.”