Irish Examiner view: Authority requires respect

Next month, the second round of public hearings of the Defence Forces Tribunal begins. File picture: Leah Farrell

The State’s security services appear to have a few testing weeks ahead of them, but not because of threats being posed by enemies foreign and domestic.

Next month, the second round of public hearings of the Defence Forces Tribunal begins. 

As reported here by Neil Michael, among the matters being considered is the extent to which complaints were “actively deterred and whether there was a culture that discouraged the making of complaints of abuse”, while the module will also hear testimony from those alleging they suffered “intimidation, retaliation, or reprisals” for raising complaints of abuse.

This week has seen a statement from An Garda Síochána stressing the force’s commitment to ensuring the integrity of whistleblowing within the organisation, amid allegations that members who raised concerns have been sidelined or forced out.

This is in direct response to recent allegations that members connected to the gardaí’s protected disclosure unit were forced out of the organisation. 

The unit was established in 2017 following a series of high-profile controversies such as the story broken by the Irish Examiner’s Mick Clifford, detailing then-Garda Sergeant Maurice McCabe’s experiences dealing with irregularities in Garda operations.

Clearly the issues facing the Defence Forces and An Garda Síochána are not directly connected, even if allegations of intimidation cast a similar shadow over both organisations. 

However, these current controversies do little for their reputations.

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Both are concerned directly with the security of the State, which makes any possible concerns about the integrity of those bodies all the more pressing. 

If two organisations charged with our national safety cannot be trusted to treat their own members properly, then that will not build public confidence in either of them.

Both our Defence Forces and the gardaí derive a large part of their authority from the respect and belief the Irish people have for them. 

That respect and belief must not be undercut by doubts about their conduct.

Soaring Metrolink costs: Wrong way on a one-way track?

The largest infrastructure project in the history of the State, Metrolink in Dublin, was the subject of a business case presented to the Government this week. 

As with any business case, the focus was immediately on the bottom line and the final cost.

As reported here by Cianan Brennan, the maximum cost of the project will be €17.5bn, which is a significant amount. 

It is also a significant increase on previous estimates.

A planning application for the project which was lodged in September 2022 had a cost range between €7.16bn and €12.25bn. 

Even if one settled on a midrange point of €9.5bn from the 2022 application, that means the current estimate has almost doubled in four years.

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Even for a nation accustomed to large increases in costs, particularly when it comes to large-scale infrastructural projects, this is a breathtaking rise in price. 

Metrolink interim programme director Michael Flynn stated this week that the €17.5bn price tag was a worst-case scenario based on circumstances in which 80% of the project’s deliverables “don’t go to plan”; the best-case scenario would see Metrolink cost €14.4bn.

To a citizenry long acquainted with such fiascos as the National Children’s Hospital, these assurances can only be taken with a pinch of salt.

The same goes for bullish predictions from Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the National Transport Authority, which stated that when completed the project will see between €1.13 and €1.95 in economic benefits returned to the taxpayer for every €1 invested.

These figures should also be considered in the context of what comes next for Metrolink. 

In the best-case scenario, the business case will allow the project to proceed to tender, which could take a full year, before final government approval to begin construction; that may lead eventually to Metrolink carrying its first passengers in 2036.

One certainly hopes that that best-case scenario applies. Nobody wants to see the cost of this project edge ever closer to the €20bn mark.

Ed Sheeran tour: Support shows how to lead

Readers with an interest in music may have noticed the controversy in the United States involving Ed Sheeran, a singer very popular on these shores.

His current tour of America took in the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey last week, where support act Macklemore addressed the crowd about Palestine, saying he wanted people in Gaza and the West Bank to know they had not been forgotten.

This led to a petition demanding that Macklemore, whose real name is Benjamin Hammond, be removed from the remaining dates on the tour. 

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Earlier this week, Macklemore posted online that Sheeran and his team had “made the decision to remove” him from the Loop Tour, though Sheeran subsequently contested this assertion, stating that Macklemore’s departure was not his decision but the promoter’s.

Ed Sheeran has said Macklemore’s departure was not his decision but the promoter’s. Picture: John Walton

Interestingly, Irish singer Aaron Rowe and Irish trad band Beoga, as well as Irish-American solo artist Finneas, have now pulled out of support slots on the tour.

Rowe posted a message stressing his friendship with Sheeran and gratitude for his support, but added: “I need to be true to myself and my ancestors who resisted colonisation, and fought for a freedom that I enjoy today in Ireland.”

Withdrawing from such a high-profile tour is a significant step for such musicians, who could have expected their appearances to generate a boost in terms of exposure as well as a financial return. 

It is refreshing to see such artists making a principled stand in this way.