Justice Minister's decision not to attend GRA conference 'extremely disappointing' 

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has asked the GRA to 'reconsider' their decision not to invite Drew Harris to the annual conference.

The decision by Justice Minister Helen McEntee not to attend rank and file gardaí’s annual conference next week has the potential to “blur the lines of separation” between gardaí and the Government, according to the Garda Representative Association (GRA).

The association, which represents 11,000 members across the country, will hold its annual conference next week. The decision by Ms McEntee not to attend resulted from the GRA’s failure to invite Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to the conference.

Ms McEntee notified the GRA of her decision by letter.

In a statement on Thursday, GRA president Brendan O’Connor and general secretary Ronan Slevin said her decision to turn down the invitation to the conference is “extremely disappointing and shows a clear lack of understanding of the issues that are affecting our members”.

The statement added: “The invite to Conference was sent months ago, yet just six days prior to the conference the Minister has informed us that she will not attend.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris.

"While we can accept that the Minister has a busy schedule, the reasoning for her non-appearance was not a prior, more pressing engagement but instead, a show of solidarity and support for the Garda Commissioner who had not been extended an invitation.

"Commissioner Harris had not received an invitation to the GRA's 2024 Annual Conference as he had lost the support of the GRA membership, shown by the unprecedented vote back in September which returned almost 99% of all GRA members voting no confidence in the Garda Commissioner.” 

The GRA says that the organisation still believed in a clear separation of powers between the Oireachtas and senior garda management “which is a key element in any democracy to ensure the independence and legitimacy of policing”.

But the statement continued: "This decision has the potential to blur the lines of separation in the eyes of our members and indeed the public we serve. We have engaged with Minister McEntee and An Taoiseach Simon Harris over the past 12 months to express our concerns regarding the current crises facing our Association.

"The Minister would have had the opportunity to listen to these concerns firsthand from delegates right across the country, but sadly the Minster has decided to decline this invitation and will have to hear of these concerns through the media.” 

The statement also said that a pledge by the Taoiseach two weeks ago to make law and order one of his priorities “makes the decision of his key Minister all the more baffling."

McEntee response

Ms McEntee, however, defended her decision to refrain from attending the conference. 

Speaking to Cork’s 96FM, she said that although she engages regularly with the association, she has stood by her decision.

Ms McEntee has asked the group to “reconsider” their decision not to invite Mr Harris, on the sole basis that the reasons they had provided for doing so were in the process of being “worked through”.

Ms McEntee said issues such as Garda rostering and pay negotiations are on the path to being resolved and so the decision should be upturned.

Reflecting on the vote of no confidence against Mr Harris last year, she described it as a "significant vote". 

"The vast majority of people voted specifically relating to the roster, and that was my understanding and that was made clear at the time,” she said.

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Ms McEntee described co-operation between the Garda Commissioner and representative organisations as “really important”.

“He is head of the organisation and I believe that being at a conference and [having] the opportunity to be able to work through and resolve and to respond to questions that members have, that is the best way to do it,” she said.

Ms McEntee said there is “absolutely” no chance she is taking sides in the row between the GRA and the Garda Commisioner, adding: “I will continue to engage with the Commissioner or with the GRA. That's not going to change.”