Guerin Report: Force must finally get the message

Ireland is very good at producing reports but hopeless about taking action. Regrettably, the reality is that official probes by or into agencies of the State usually end up gathering dust on ministerial shelves.

That applies with particular force to investigations of wrongdoing by An Garda Síochána. As in the case of the wide-reaching Morris tribunal inquiry into the activities of some gardaí in Donegal, the perception is that public bodies like the Department of Justice simply don’t want to hear the message. Once the wagons are circled, officials just sit on their hands in the hope nobody will notice when nothing happens. And they usually get away with it.

Sceptics can be forgiven for fearing the same fate could await the damning report by barrister Seán Guerin on how allegations of wrongdoing made by whistleblower Sgt Maurice McCabe were handled by An Garda Síochána and the Department of Justice, a scandal that cost Alan Shatter his job as justice minister and Martin Callinan his job as Garda commissioner.