Gardaí in disarray - New blow to credibility

Rebuilding the credibility of An Garda Síochána was already recognised as a mammoth task, but today’s revelation that a Garda reservist has been arrested and questioned over the possibility that he inappropriately used the Garda computer system to spy on a former lover who had ended their relationship makes that task even more difficult and urgent.

As the list of these breaches of trust grows ever longer, it is hard not to imagine that whole swathes of the force did not have adequate supervision, much less an understanding of — or commitment to — the kind of values and principles that must be applied in sensitive, confidential areas. It also suggests that the cultural change needed is far greater than had been imagined.