McDowell has massive task to perform

The Taoiseach said yesterday that the Frank Shortt affair will be fully investigated and that those involved will be brought to justice.

A curious fact about this case has been that one of the gardaí criticised by the Court of Criminal Appeal was already suspended from the force, while his superior, who was the object of even more trenchant criticism in court, had only been moved to other duties. Why were they treated differently?

It is not just the miscarriage of justice in the Shortt case, but also the broader judicial ramifications need to be examined. There must be no question of two gardaí being scapegoated while the need for fundamental reforms are ignored.

The Taoiseach said he did not think public confidence in the Garda Síochána had been damaged by the case, but if this is true, it must be because confidence was already so badly damaged that the Shortt case could not make it any worse.

For years, the politicians on all sides of the political divide have been exhibiting a distinct lack of confidence in the gardaí.

This has been apparent with the appointment of tribunals to investigate criminal matters that happen to be politically sensitive.

Politicians on all sides have bypassed the gardaí and handed the primary investigative role over to the judiciary. This would be understandable as a last resort, if the gardaí had failed in their investigative duties, but they have been bypassed completely. Why - is it because the politicians do not trust the gardaí to handle politically sensitive cases? Whatever the reason, it shows a distinct lack of confidence in the force.

With so many judges involved in the tribunals, there has been a shortage of judges to deal with the most serious crimes. Trial dates have already been set up to the end of December 2003 for 19 rape cases and 11 murder cases. Mr Justice Paul Carney complained in the High Court in early June that three rape cases and one murder case had to be put back until 2004 because of a shortage of judges.

At the same time, the latest crime figures have shown an alarming increase in serious offences, with common assaults up by 93%, sexual assaults up by 83%, while murders and drug offences are each up by 33%. A UN report this week found that Ireland has the highest per capita use of ecstasy and illegal amphetamines in western Europe. This country ranks with Britain at the top of the league table in the use of cannabis, and is ranked third-highest in the use of cocaine.

The Garda Síochána are losing the fight against crime, and the force has been further damaged by the disastrous handling of high-profile matters like the Abbeylara incident, the Carty inquiry, and the May Day street riot in Dublin. The Minister for Justice Michael McDowell, indicated already that he has plans to reform the force early next year. He has inherited an enormous mess and has a mammoth reform task ahead of him.