Garda shamed by corrupt officers, chief admits

The Garda Siochana has been shamed by the lying and corruption of some of its officers in Donegal, Commissioner Noel Conroy admitted tonight.

With more damaging revelations expected when the Morris Tribunal resumes later this month, the beleaguered chief said he regretted that the force had been tarnished by the handling of the investigation into the death of cattle dealer Richie Barron.

As he faced calls for his resignation, Mr Conroy said he would be implementing the recommendations of Judge Frederick Morris’s second report as a matter of urgency.

The report found the garda inquiry into Mr Barron’s hit-and-run death was “prejudiced, tendentious and utterly negligent in the highest degree”.

It noted unbelievable incompetence, criminal negligence, fraud, deceit and an attempt by officers to cover their tracks.

A total of 30 recommendations were tabled by Judge Morris in a bid to address failings in the force and prevent a similar episode of corruption from recurring.

A spokesman for An Garda Siochana said the entire force had been tarnished by the shocking findings of the Morris report.

“The Commissioner acknowledges the excellent work being done on a daily basis by the vast majority of the garda membership throughout the country and regrets that the bad behaviour of a few has tarnished the reputation of An Garda Siochana,” he said.

The Commissioner also said he regretted that garda policy and procedures were not followed or adhered to in the Barron death probe.

“The Commissioner welcomes and acknowledges the findings in the report and is committed to implementing the recommendations contained therein,” he said.

Superintendent Kevin Donohoe said: “It’s a sad and a bad day to be in An Garda Siochana but I think that we hopefully will give the perception that we accept the criticisms, we are standing up, we are doing whatever is recommended.

“We can only be successful, if you like, operating on our integrity. We need the support of the public, we need the public confidence.”

After the first report was published last summer, Superintendent Kevin Lennon was sacked while another superintendent and chief superintendent retired.

The Garda Commissioner also dismissed a number of gardai.

But with at least 10 officers, including three superintendents, cited for negligence over the Barron probe, the Commissioner will be under mounting pressure to rid the force of such incompetent, negligent or deceitful officers.

A debate on the first and second interim reports will be held in the Dail and Seanad later this month after politicians on all sides called for immediate action.

Aisling Reidy, the director of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, said Commissioner Conroy’s position had to be questioned after a submission made on his behalf to the tribunal stated the garda investigation into Mr Barron’s death had been run in a “efficient and thorough manner”.

“Whether the Commissioner was defending the garda, irrespective of the incompetence of the inquiry, or he sincerely believed the inquiry to be competent, calls into question his judgement and ultimately his position,” Ms Reidy said.

“The report is not simply about a handful of corrupt, lying, abusive garda officers – it is a damning indictment of the structure, management and the ethos of impunity instilled by senior management within sections of the garda.

“These findings are not about rotten apples but about systematic failings which must be addressed if others, perhaps less capable of fighting back than the McBreartys, are not to be victims of garda corruption.”

Finance Minister Brian Cowen said the Government would urgently examine the future of officers implicated in the shocking report.

As senior officers said they fully accepted the findings of yesterday’s report, Mr Cowen, who was deputising for Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in the Dail, described the publication as “very disturbing, deeply troubling and shocking”.

He said the Government and the Justice Minister took the most serious view of the second report.

“The Minister for Justice and the Government accept the findings of the report and will act on it,” he said.

“The Government and the Commissioner will now urgently examine the implications of the findings of this report for individual officers.”

The Morris report detailed a trail of mistakes and lies committed by officers which prevented the investigation into Mr Barron’s death reaching a successful conclusion.

The judge found that gardai were consumed with the idea that publican Frank McBrearty jnr and his cousin Mark McConnell were guilty of the murder of Mr Barron and tried to frame them.

Judge Morris also claimed that the work of the Tribunal could have been finished within months if the gardai had fully co-operated with him rather than continuously lying and obstructing it.

The Morris Tribunal began probing allegations of garda corruption in Donegal in July 2002 and is not expected to complete its work until at least 2007.