'Disappointed' Drew Harris claims no confidence vote 'was personally directed at me'

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said the vote feels like a “huge kick in the teeth”. Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has said a vote of no confidence in him by more than 9,000 members of the Garda Representative Association feels like a “huge kick in the teeth”.

Mr Harris was speaking to reporters on his way into the Association of Garda Superintendents annual conference at Killashee Hotel, Naas, Co. Kildare, on Wednesday. 

Garda rank-and-file members overwhelmingly voted no confidence in the commissioner in a result described as “unprecedented” and a “pivotal moment" in the history of the force. Almost 99% of gardaí who voted in the ballot organised by the Garda Representative Association (GRA) expressed no confidence in the commissioner.

The GRA issued 10,803 ballots, of which 9,129 were returned as valid votes. Of those, 9,013 voted no confidence in Mr Harris, with 116 voting confidence in him. It is the first time in the 100-year history of the organisation that such a ballot has been taken.

Mr Harris responded to the vote saying he was “hugely disappointed” adding “it does feel like a real kick in the teeth”.

He continued: “But the thing about this is that I’m employed to do a job. I am employed to protect the people of Ireland. I am employed to use our resources to maximise the protections that we do provide to the people of Ireland.

“That means, a change of roster and the message today is we will continue on the course that we are on in terms of returning to the agreed roster, the only agreed roster, which was worked for seven years, we will return to that on November 6 whilst in the meantime trying to negotiate a new roster.”

Mr Harris also said he felt that the vote was “personal”. “Well in my view the vote was directed at me” he said. 

There was many ways in which that vote could have been framed. But it was directed towards me, it could have been the office of commissioner, it could have been management, or it could have been at the actual roster change itself, but it was directed at me. And I do think it was a vote that was personally directed at me.

He added that "it does feel like a heavy blow, but the point is stand back up again and finish off the job I was employed to do".

“This is about protecting the people of Ireland and using our resources, substantial resources of An Garda Síochána to do that”.

When asked how he can do that job when more than 9,000 gardaí said they have no confidence in him, he said: “Well trust doesn’t come into it. And in fact actually it is unclear what they were voting for.

“I believe that they felt they were voting on the proposal on the decision and affect to go back to the original roster. So, you’re asking me that question in the context of the decision being to return to the roster, the agreed roster that we worked for seven years because the covid emergency roster is finishing.”

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Wednesday's vote stemmed from discontent within the force, mostly around the commissioner's plan to return to a pre-pandemic roster from November 6. A different roster was implemented during the covid-19 pandemic, and the GRA and other representative groups gave a commitment to return to the old roster when it ended.

But the GRA has raised concerns over low morale in the force and said retention and recruitment issues would affect the implementation of the old roster.

In the wake of the vote, Justice Minister Helen McEntee reiterated her confidence in the Garda Commissioner and said using industrial relations mechanisms could be the only way to reach a solution to ongoing issues.

A special meeting convened in two weeks in Kilkenny will now discuss the implications of the vote and the next steps the GRA should take. GRA President Brendan O’Connor said that the men and women of An Garda Síochána “do not have confidence in the organisation and the direction it’s going”.