Morris Tribunal - More action is needed after report

A cynical and deeply worried public will not be satisfied with the early retirement of a senior garda officer, on full pension, and the prospective dismissal of a garda detective, as a response to the appalling revelations from the Morris Tribunal report.

It can only be the beginning of the eradication of a culture that has infected some elements of the Garda, as was graphically revealed by Mr Justice Morris in his investigations into the way it operated in Donegal.

Chief Superintendent Denis Fitzpatrick will retire on full pension from the current position he holds as head of the Garda National Traffic Bureau after being severely criticised on a number of fronts.

While he was not involved in corruption, he was “gravely at fault” for not properly investigating the activities of disgraced Superintendent Kevin Lennon and Detective Garda Noel McMahon.

Further, the Morris report found he and Lennon behaved in a manner that “amounted to a conspiracy” towards another officer to undermine his position, and the chief superintendent had “abused his position to settle an old score”.

With grave verdicts against a very senior garda officer by the judge, the public would be entitled to query whether he should be allowed to choose his own exit from the force under these circumstances.

Apparently, according to an official garda statement, the arrangement emerged in the course of a meeting he had with Commissioner Noel Conroy.

In light of the damning conclusions of the tribunal, it is rather difficult to appreciate Chief Supt Fitzpatrick’s departure as an “honourable decision”, as it was described by a spokesman for Justice Minister Michael McDowell.

The minister has declared that the force will undergo fundamental reform in the wake of the “dark day” that the revelations from the report of the Morris Tribunal represented.

But worse is to come before that dark day ultimately dissipates, and the minister is only too well aware of the fact that before public confidence in the force is restored, drastic overhauls are needed.

The nefarious activities in Donegal were conducted by a relatively small number of gardaí, but it was not just a local problem and the Morris report warned that it could happen anywhere.

Mr McDowell has repeatedly said that when the proposed Garda Bill is enacted into law it will contain provisions which will address much of what is wrong with the force.

Yet, the Bill has been criticised as being inadequate in what it proposes, not least the intention to establish a three-person Garda Ombudsman’s Office.

The public have seen the efficacy and transparency of the police ombudsman in the North and would wish to see something emerge in this State modelled along similar lines.

Undoubtedly, the integrity and probity of the majority of our police force is intact.

The public just need to be convinced that it is.