Senior officers give mixed reactions after boss’s resignation
‘I know him and the only reason he did it was because of his family... He’s made of stronger stuff’
A myriad of existing inquiries and rumoured upcoming media reports with the potential to create further twists in the tale.
All against the background of a force on its knees in terms of resources, morale and workload.
These are turbulent days for policing in Ireland.
The clear signal from Garda HQ last Sunday, albeit an unofficial one, was that Martin Callinan was going to make a statement to withdraw his “disgusting” remarks about the two whistleblowers.
Something changed on Monday morning, with an official line from Phoenix Park that Mr Callinan was not going to make any such clarification.
While we don’t know for sure what happened, political sources yesterday said the Government expressed its disquiet to the commissioner after learning from the attorney general of legal proceedings, linked to the recording of phone calls into and out from large Garda stations.
“I am very, very sorry for Martin Callinan and his family, particularly for his family,” said Brian Sherry, a former detective inspector.
“The commissioner had decided to fall on his own sword. I know him and the only reason he did it was because of his family. He didn’t do it for himself. He’s made of tougher stuff. He came up through the ranks fighting crime and gangs.”
Mr Sherry described him as a “very capable commissioner”, but added that when you go to that rank it was “all politics”: “He was driven to do this, as a result of pressure brought on by the likes of Mick Wallace; and Leo Varadkar, who’s a very astute politician. The political interference is appalling and I believe this is the most interfering government in the history of the gardaí. And politicians won’t give up that control. And that’s what it is: control.”
He believes a Garda authority would be a good thing, so long as it was set up properly and comprised of people with some understanding of police work.
But one senior detective disagrees: “We already have loads of oversight: we have disciplinary regulations, internal audit, we have the Garda Inspectorate, we have GSOC. We have more oversight than we need. Now they’re talking about putting in another layer in an authority. That didn’t work too well in England.”
He said what was needed was a commissioner who could stand up to Government.
“We need a commissioner who can bang the table in the Department of Justice and say ‘listen, if this is the level of service you want we have to have this — a, b and c’. We need someone with the balls to do that. Callinan got an extension, so when the Government said ‘jump’, he said ‘how high?’.”
He said the commissioner had “spoken out of turn” when he described the whistleblowers as disgusting, but said that was reflective of Mr Callinan’s personality.
A third police officer, a chief superintendent, described Mr Callinan as a “terrific worker”, who was “very dedicated and devoted to the organisation”.
He said his personality “might be an issue” sometimes and he could be “intemperate” but stressed he did well by the force. Likewise, he mentioned the extension to his term as something that weakened him when the Government and Mr Shatter were axing garda numbers and closing hundreds of Garda stations.
Mr Sherry said the impact of the controversies, the resignation and the years of cutbacks had a “devastating” impact on the force: “It’s very demoralising for guards. Their leader has resigned. Gardaí are so deflated. You have young guards trying to do their best. I know senior detectives who are so disillusioned and overworked. The political interference drastically cut garda numbers and ended overtime. It’s a total mess at the moment.”
The senior detective source agrees, saying this was the biggest issue facing the force, not the controversies. “I’m thinking about tackling crime and providing the level of service the community expects, and deserves,” he said.
“Lack of resources are our biggest problem. We are doing our best while cutting to the bone.”
He said he had multiple murders in his division to investigate: “We are stretched beyond belief. I have vacancies across the board at detective level. I have a huge geographical area yet just one sergeant to look after all the prisoners coming into stations to be questioned.
“They need to open up recruitment immediately and bring in promotions,” said the senior detective.
Mr Sherry said he sees for himself the state of the cars gardaí are forced to drive. “You have 2003 Toyota Yaris and 2007 cars held together by tape. There’s a crisis inside the force that must be addressed along with all the bigger issues dominating the news.”
