The day rank-and-file gardaí rose up

50 years ago, gardaí protested against an unfair pay deal in an action that resonates to this day, writes Austin Kenny

FIFTY years ago, a seminal event took place that was to have a profound impact on An Garda Síochána and the organisations that represent its members, an impact that lasts to this day.

The event was the Macushla mass meeting of gardaí, described by various writers as a “revolt”, “mutiny”, an “incident” and an ‘upheaval’. The incident led to the dismissal of 11 members of the force.

On November 4, 1961, an estimated 1,000-1,400 gardaí — mostly young men — crammed in to the Macushla Ballroom on Buckingham Street off the North Strand in Dublin. Their anger was because of a ham-fisted pay deal that had left those with less than five years’ service with a pay increase of exactly nothing.

A week plus a few days of high drama followed. During it, 11 of those present at the Macushla had been dismissed. The archbishop of Dublin, Dr John Charles McQuaid, stepped in and called on then justice minister Charlie Haughey to reinstate the dismissed men.

Ironically, the pay deal had been negotiated by a group of garda representatives of all ranks, but the group had lost touch with the rank-and-file gardaí who were paid between £8 and £11 depending on their service — not exactly princely wages, even then.

The Joint Representative Body was dominated by officers and had lost touch with the majority of the younger men. The body was also under pressure to arrive at a pay deal as many gardaí were retiring — the “1922 men” recruited in the early days of the Irish Free State were reaching pension age — and the negotiators feared many would lose out in their pension if they submitted the pay deal to what was then a lengthy arbitration process.

Other factors were at play also. The educational standard of recruits was rising and many now had a Leaving Certificate. Standards in homes were improving also. The recruitment drive of the preceding years resulted in hundreds of young men arriving in the force to be compelled to live in barrack-style accommodation in stations with iron beds and horsehair mattresses and to obey a midnight curfew. Add to that very basic food and an authoritarian approach to discipline and you had the basic ingredients for revolt — the pay deal was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Towards the end of October and early November, discontented gardaí met in groups wherever they could. Station sergeants expelled potential mutinous meetings from station canteens so a consensus grew that they needed a central location to voice their anger and decide what to do about it. Gardaí from Fitzgibbon Street and Store Street were familiar with the Macushla, approached the owner, and a piece of Garda history was under way.

The meeting was set for 4pm on Saturday, November 4, 1961.

A central figure was the late Dick Keating, a detective garda based in Pearse Street. Like many of his colleagues, he had become disenchanted with the autocratic management style in the gardaí, as well as being extremely disgruntled with the pay deal and had decided to take a stand at the Macushla.

Commissioner Daniel Costigan ruled the meeting illegal and ordered his senior officers to mount a watch outside the doors and to take the names of any member they recognised. Superintendent Tim O’Brien and Inspector Albert Dawson went into the meeting and informed those present that they were breaking the law and were now liable for dismissal.

John (Jack) Marrinan, later to become the first full-time general secretary of the Representative Body for Guards and of its later development, the Garda Representative Association, says that Supt O’Brien told the meeting his powers derived from the Dance Halls Act, only for one member to shout: “this is no effing dance!”

The committee selected at the Macushla — mostly volunteers — decided to hold a series of regional meetings and another mass meeting in the same venue on Sunday, November 12. On November 9, the commissioner acted and issued dismissal notices to 11 members, of whom Jack Marrinan was one. The meetings continued nevertheless, and the stage was set for another confrontation on the 12th.

Fate stepped in, however, when the wife of the Dublin assistant commissioner, William Quinn — Helen Mary Quinn — died in a traffic accident in the early hours of Sunday. The revolutionaries decided to call off the Macushla meeting as a mark of respect.

Later that day the archbishop got involved. He felt the situation had been badly handled and described the Macushla men as “decent”.

“Something is wrong when decent men come out in such ways,” he wrote. He contacted Haughey and offered to act as intermediary, also calling a small group of representatives to his Killiney home to arrange the settlement details.

The outcome was that the dismissed men agreed to apply for reinstatement and to guarantee that there would be no further mass meetings. In return they were offered a committee of inquiry into their grievances, no loss of service and no victimisation.

Jack Marrinan went on to a distinguished career representing members of garda rank for 27 years — turning down an opportunity to be promoted to sergeant. Dick Keating was promoted to sergeant, was appointed detective sergeant and refused to go for further promotion in case it disrupted his family while another dismissed man, Michael Murphy, rose to superintendent rank. Gerry Muldoon, became an inspector while Liam Corcoran became a detective sergeant and served in the famous Murder Squad.