Better communication by gardai would have cut complaints

A “significant number” of the 320 complaints against gardaí reviewed by State- appointed legal experts would have been avoided if the officers had communicated properly with the people involved.

The Independent Review Mechanism found that in some cases, involving a questionable or accidental death, the shortcomings of investigating gardaí ranged “from the mildly perfunctory to the highly offensive”.

The IRM Overview Report said what while gardaí behaved appropriately in cases involving death through criminal violence, there was “a failure to show understanding of the near-endless anguish” of close family members in other cases of fatalities.