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”.

Speaking yesterday, the Commissioner defended her position and said she acted promptly when made aware of the situation.

That may be the case, but the fact that the investigation she ordered has yet to conclude almost two years after she acknowledges she knew of the situation suggests the issue has not been dealt with with the urgency it demands, that it is being fudged.

Promises of Garda reform ring ever more hollow and these matters seem increasingly sinister