Informant revelations - Procedures not fit for purpose

Coming hard on the heels of the deeply damaging public row between the Garda Ombudsman and gardaí over the handling of undercover informants, today’s front-page revelations again focus on a dysfunctional system urgently in need of reform.

So harmful were the implications of the recent dispute that Justice Minister Alan Shatter had to knock heads together when the Ombudsman accused gardaí of delaying its four-year investigation into the case of convicted drug dealer Kieran Boylan, against whom charges of possessing heroin and cocaine were inexplicably dropped. The delay allegation was strongly rejected by Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan.

At the heart of this controversy, the burning question is whether or not gardaí had colluded with the infamous drug dealer. While all the facts of the Boylan case have yet to come to light, it is beyond dispute that the failures of a system which should be seen to operate to a high standard continues to cause serious concern.