Gardai 'must co-operate with probes'

Members of the Garda Siochana could be obliged to co-operate with inquiries into their behaviour under proposed new legislation, the Government announced today.

Gardai would have a statutory duty to comply with a new inspectorate under the planned laws, said Justice Minister Michael McDowell.

His comments came a day after the Garda Complaints Board criticised rank-and-file officers for a lack of co-operation in an investigation into the force’s handling of a May bank holiday protest.

The board said a number of officers who were on duty during the Reclaim the Streets protest in Dublin last May avoided disciplinary action because fellow officers refused to identify them.

Yesterday the board’s chairman Gordon Holmes said lack of co-operation from colleagues meant that despite video evidence of inappropriate baton use certain gardai could not be identified.

Mr McDowell today criticised “a la carte” co-operation and said members of the Garda Siochana should be obliged to comply fully with investigations.

If the complaints board decided to send the report on the matter to him he would request full compliance from gardai.

He told RTE Radio: “If they decide to send the report to me – and I will be requesting them to do it – I will take into account in the context of forthcoming legislation the need that the new inspectorate, when it is established, will have for clear powers to exact co-operation, and that members of An Garda Siochana will have clear and enforceable duties to co-operate.”

He was concerned by the ethos of loyalty to colleagues rather than to the force, as highlighted in yesterday’s comments by Mr Holmes, Mr McDowell said, adding: “Every member of An Garda Siochana will be under a positive duty, and there will be methods of enforcement of it, to cooperate with the inspectorate.

“It is not going to be a la carte co-operation, it will be as a result of statutory duty.”

Meanwhile the timing of yesterday’s report was heavily criticised by Garda Representatives’ Association general secretary P J Stone, who said: “My difficulty in relation to Mr Holmes’ comments is that it is coming in the middle of an ongoing investigation and it clearly shows to me that Mr Holmes and his board have come to certain conclusions in relation to this incident.”

Mr Stone said he would have preferred public comments to have come once the investigation was completed.

“My difficulty is the timing of this,” he added.

“I think it sends out a very clear signal that members of the force in respect of going before the board are not likely to have a fair hearing.”

He said that when gardai were initially invited to contribute to the investigation it was clear there was no obligation to reply.