Garda code of ethics: Surely not

When the Police Authority published a code of ethics for An Garda Síochána yesterday, the authority’s chair, Josephine Feehily, correctly said that public confidence in institutions of State, including the gardaí, was “really fragile” and “needs to be minded”.

Weekend revelations of adventurous accounting practices at the Garda Training Centre at Templemore strengthen the argument behind her observation.

The publication of the code, which will work in conjunction with Garda regulations, may have been designed to build confidence in the force and in the public’s confidence in it but it is hard to suppress a simple question: Surely we don’t have to point out what’s right and what’s wrong to our police force?

Surely the culture of the force is not so weak, so tattered, that these simple, national school guidelines are necessary?

There may be an element of box ticking to ensure that rules can be enforced but if it is necessary to spell such fundamental principles to our police force, then things are far worse than we, or our police, ever imagined.