Sinister Garda delay

It is an indication of how very low expectations around An Garda Síochána have fallen that, when contradictory evidence is offered to the Oireachtas PAC by Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan and the force’s HR director, civilian John Barrett, the situation seems almost unremarkable.

How can such senior figures have such conflicting memories of shared events around how financial irregularities at the Garda College in Templemore were handled, or when they were brought to the Commissioner’s notice?

Labour’s Alan Kelly described Thursday’s meeting as “unbelievable” and “nothing like he had ever seen”.