Prospects of resolution to roster dispute 'quite bleak', says GRA boss

The GRA has refused to enter talks on a new roster until the commissioner removes or defers his decision to bring in the roster on November 6.

The leader of the Garda Representative Association said the prospects of a breakthrough in the roster dispute with the Garda Commissioner were “quite bleak”.

It places the GRA and Drew Harris on a collision course, which will start on Tuesday in a refusal by most, if not all, GRA members to refuse to work voluntary overtime.

The dispute will escalate into direct action when GRA representatives refuse to work a changed roster — directed by the commissioner to come in on November 6 — and the association believes its 11,000-plus members will follow suit.

The planned protest will culminate four days later when delegates will “withdraw their labour”, a move the association also expects its members to emulate.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee said she would 'not direct' the commissioner or Garda members on 'where, when or how”'they should work. Picture: Damien Storan

The GRA has refused to enter talks on a new roster until the commissioner removes or defers his decision to bring in the roster on November 6 — which the commissioner has repeatedly stated he will not do.

Possible options to bridge the positions appear to have evaporated over the weekend after both the Policing Authority and the Justice Minister said they had no role in intervening in the dispute.

Helen McEntee went public on RTÉ over the weekend and firmly said she would “not direct” the commissioner or Garda members on “where, when or how” they should work.

She supported the commissioner’s view that the current emergency roster, introduced for covid, did not provide visibility on the ground and that the pre-covid roster was the “only agreed roster”.

Last Friday, the Policing Authority told the Irish Examiner it “does not have a role” in the internal management of An Garda Síochána or in industrial relations matters.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has referred the dispute to the Workplace Relations Commission, which the GRA has rejected. Picture: Damien Storan.

The authority encouraged the parties to use the State’s industrial relations institutions to resolve matters in the public interest.

This backs the commissioner’s position, who has referred the dispute to the Workplace Relations Commission, which the GRA has rejected.

Speaking on Morning Ireland, GRA president Brendan O’Connor said: “The situation is quite bleak and some of the utterances in public, both from the commissioner and from the minister are not helpful to the situation.” 

In particular, he cited recent comments from the commissioner about being on the receiving end of “bias and sectarianism”.

When it was put to Mr O'Connor the commissioner was referring to comments on social media, rather than from the association, he said the “integrity of the GRA and the motivations of the GRA” were raised in conversations, implying in meetings with the commissioner and his team.

He said any suggestions that sectarianism was a factor in their dispute was “an insult” to members.

Mr O’Connor said the overwhelming vote by GRA members of no confidence in the commissioner last month had not personalised their dispute, though he admitted the sides had become “very entrenched”.

He said members' dissatisfaction had been “simmering” for years but had now “boiled over”.

He said members will wait and see if they are directed to work overtime, saying any such action would have to comply with the law, including their working time agreement, which includes mandatory rest periods.