GSOC Boylan report - Gardaí have questions to answer

The integrity of a democracy depends on a respected, effective and honest police force, one that wins and cherishes the moral authority needed to do its job.

Equally, a police force that imagines itself unaccountable and beyond the reach of parliament has no place in a democracy like ours. Yesterday’s withering report from Garda Ombudsman Kieran FitzGerald raises concerns of the most profound kind, concerns that are exacerbated by the fact that it, extraordinarily, took four years to complete the Boylan investigation because of what the GSOC described as garda obstruction. That the GSOC reached this conclusion despite assurances last year from Commissioner Martin Callinan that gardaí were cooperating with the GSOC deepened those concerns. That Commissioner Callinan yesterday afternoon reiterated that the force had co-operated with the investigation — remember, it took four years to complete — suggests at the very least a peculiar, skewed understanding of what co-operation actually means.

It is hard to imagine, or at least let us hope it is, that gardaí investigating a crime would be so very patient with someone they wished to question in relation to it.