Politicians to blame for people’s fear of gardaí

THE gardaí exist to enforce the country’s laws and protect its citizens. Traditionally an unarmed force, they were friends in times of difficulty.

However, the recent RTÉ Prime Time programme which exposed some of their worst excesses came as no surprise to most people. Somewhere in the last couple of years the relationship between the force and the civil population changed for the worse.

With so many bad laws now enacted, the average person has good reason to fear the gardaí. They are now empowered to arrest and prosecute any of us if they so choose.

If you own a car, you can tax and insure it, drive within the speed limit, belt up and stay sober, but they can still get you for penalty points.

Dangerous driving, for example, is what the gardaí says it is. They can enter a pub, form the impression that you have had too much and arrest you.

Remember, the only tangible test of inebriation is the breathalyser, and that limits you to one and a half pints. If you are a smoker just stay at home and hide. Fear of the gardaí arises from their power to cost you a lot of money.

They can arrest and embarrass you and you can lose a right, such as driving a car. I address my comments to the more law-abiding the criminals do not care anyway. I blame the politicians for this new-found fear of the gardaí. They are only doing their job, but the politicians have lost touch with us.

John Mallon,

5, Shamrock Grove,

Mayfield,

Cork.