Garda accountability - Force must remain transparent

The incoming president of the Garda Representative Association (GRA), Michael O’Boyce, launched a blistering and emotive attack on the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) at the GRA’s annual conference in Carlow yesterday.

He accused the GSOC of behaving recklessly and having excelled itself in blundering incompetence.

Mr O’Boyce said officers of the GSOC might have contaminated vital evidence to be used in connection with a number of crime investigations in Limerick. Although he refused to disclose what cases were involved, he said the GSOC investigators “rooted through” the personal lockers of gardaí and seized all their contents including vital evidence, thereby possibly either “contaminating” or “compromising” evidence.

The gardaí welcomed the formation of the GSOC, he said, but the commission now has a lot of work to do to gain the full confidence of the 11,000 rank-and-file members of the force.

John Egan, the outgoing president of the GRA, was also highly critical of the GSOC in a conference address delivered in the presence of Justice Minister Brian Lenihan and Garda commissioner Fachtna Murphy. The GRA “is greatly worried” about the effects of the GSOC, according to Mr Egan, who complained that the GSOC had been granted excessive powers, and that it was not providing sufficient information or feedback to gardaí against whom complaints had been made.

In particular, he complained that the GSOC was not providing accused gardaí with information about whether the person lodging the complaint was as a criminal or an associate. Some criminals will inevitably make frivolous complaints, if they can thereby obstruct the effectiveness of the force.

Of all government agencies, An Garda Síochána should be the most accountable and transparent. There can be no question of gardaí operating outside the law, and hence they should welcome the thoroughness of the GSOC in investigating any complaints.

The force has been tarnished by a number of incidents in recent years, especially by the events in Donegal. Yet An Garda Síochána has a proud history, often under very trying circumstances, and its overall record has generally been exemplary.

The GSOC was set up to ensure that public confidence was not damaged by the various incidents. It is therefore in the overall interest of the force that the GSOC should operate effectively.

Certain teething problems are understandable, and the GRA may well have valid complaints, but it is important that the GSOC should have full powers to ensure that An Garda Síochána is held accountable. A certain degree of tension between the GRA and GSOC may be inevitable, but it is vital for both that there should be full co-operation between them in the interest of all.