Sixth Morris report - Over to the courts

YOU would not have to be too cynical to empathise with yesterday’s suggestion that the timing of the publication of the Morris Tribunal’s sixth report was such that it got less attention than was warranted.

No doubt the Department of Justice was correct when it said it had to be released within 14 days of it being received by the minister, and that yesterday’s publication was unavoidable if that deadline was to be met.

What is much more important than the timing is the response to the wrongdoing uncovered. Already Garda commissioner Fachtna Murphy has expressed “profound regret” and has apologised to those mistreated. He was supported by the GRA president, Michael O’Boyce, who said it is “an appalling indictment... some of our colleagues have let us down very badly”.

We have had many long and exhausting tribunals, some have uncovered low standards in high places, others heard of appalling sexual abuse. The great length of time and the incomprehensible costs involved have been used to undermine the tribunals’ credibility. That so few people have come before the courts as a result of various tribunals is also a cause for concern. As yet, nobody has faced charges because of Morris.

If the work of all the tribunals, so vital in a culture like ours, is to have any real meaning that situation cannot continue.