GSOC and confidence in Garda oversight

The reaction of Garda Commissioner Callinan and Justice Minister Shatter to the GSOC bugging suspicions brought no credit to either of them.

The unqualified assertion by the Commissioner that there was no unauthorised bugging by the Gardaí was facile as he cannot possibly stand over such a claim. GSOC was established to deal with rogue policing and rogue elements within the Garda Síochána whose egregious behaviour defied the best oversight diligence of many competent Garda commissioners.

The fundamental issue is the stability of public confidence and trust in all of the institutions of law enforcement, not the defence, at all costs, of what the Commissioner refers to as ‘my backyard’.