Gardaí must return to their old values
The easy option is to scapegoat a few officers, chop a few heads and hope that all will be well again but it’s not that simple.
The truth is that those policy-makers (politicians and senior officers) most culpable have long since left the stage. Back in the 1970s and ’80s, fundamental changes were implemented in the promotion system in the Garda Siochána with the emphasis on rapid promotion for the “bright young things” of the force. Experience and solid performance were no longer relevant in the rush to the top and while many good people made it through the ranks, there were too many self-made clones of senior officers who readily adapted to the new system, surviving and indeed thriving on cuteness rather than real ability or natural leadership - an essential ingredients for good management.
The old system demanded that before you progressed to the next rank you proved yourself in the rank you held. With the new system your stay in any rank was short-lived as you made rapid progress. The critical factor was not to rock the boat, keep close to your sponsor (politician or senior officer) and get that third-level qualification at all costs.
Of course, while you were studying almost full time, the station or district you were supposed to be in charge of was left to its own devices but nobody cared - your promotion was guaranteed. Any organisation can carry a few passengers, but ultimately the ability to rattle off a few stock phrases, parrot-like, dictated by HQ is no substitute for the wisdom and solid policing management skills that can only be acquired through experience.
With Sinn Féin knocking on the door of government, and the IRA still fully armed, we had all better hope and pray that the majority of decent men and women in the ranks of the Garda Siochána can carry the force through this crisis. That thin blue line is all that stands between society and anarchy.
John F Murray
Garrylucas
Kinsale
Co Cork
