Garda body rejects conspiracy accusations in Jobstown trial

The representative body for rank and file gardaí has rejected allegations that members attempted to "stitch up" the Jobstown protesters who were acquitted last week of false imprisonment.

Solidarity TD Paul Murphy, who was one of the six acquitted, has claimed gardaí gave a "litany of false, inaccurate statements" in the trial.

“There needs to be a public inquiry to ask how . . . this conspiracy took place. Who was involved?” Mr Murphy said last week.

A spokesman for the Garda Representative Association (GRA) said its members were entirely non-political and played no role in the decision to prosecute the men.

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“Frontline gardaí are no strangers to allegations being levelled at them in their day-to-day duties all over the country. This latest activity on social media and accusations in relation to the Jobstown case is, therefore, something that unfortunately is not new to our members,” said John O’Keefe.

“GRA members are, by definition, entirely non-political, they seek only to protect and serve the community to the best of their abilities. Jobstown was no different. Files were prepared by the gardaí for the DPP who subsequently decided on the specific charges that should be brought, not the frontline members.

“These charges were then tested in court and the accused persons were found not guilty of said charges. That is our justice system and it is one that GRA members hold dearest.”

However, Mr O’Keefe repeated GRA calls for body cameras to be issued to gardaí to ensure incidents like the Jobstown protests are properly recorded.

“This creates fairness for all parties, not just the gardaí. The GRA has repeatedly requested that such body cams be issued to members as part of their standard issue but to no avail.”

‘Too far’

Meanwhile, at the weekend Government Minister and member of the Independent Alliance Finian McGrath said the false imprisonment charges “went too far”.

Mr McGrath said on Saturday he welcomed the unanimous not guilty verdicts handed to each of the six accused and that this was the “correct verdict”.

He said he “didn’t buy the original debate around the false imprisonment argument”.

Mr McGrath also said he had concerns about the cost of the trial, and the way "sections of the arms of the State were used in relation to early morning visits, raids", he told RTÉ Radio's Claire Byrne Show.

The Minister of State for Disability Issues also said he felt the language and abuse used at the protest in Jobstown was totally unacceptable and “should not be accepted in any peaceful democratic society”.

Mr McGrath said he felt the issue of other protestors shouting abuse or throwing eggs could have been dealt with under the Public Order Act.

Labour Party leader Brendan Howlin also said "it was a mistake" not to pursue public order offences instead of false imprisonment charges.

However, he added that what happen to Ms Burton and her adviser “was vile”.

Mr Howlin said he had been involved in political protest himself, “but never targeting individuals with vileness like that”.

Unacceptable treatment

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, speaking in Galway, said he did not think the treatment of Ms Burton and her assistant Karen O’Connell was “in any way acceptable”.

“It is important to recognise that a trial did take place, and the members of the jury heard all the evidence,” Mr Varadkar said. “They heard both sides of the argument, and they decided to acquit the defendants.

“I think that it is important that we respect that outcome, because it was a trial by jury, and it’s the jury who spent nine weeks considering all the evidence, and made the decision that they did,” he said.

“But just because somebody wasn’t convicted of false imprisonment doesn’t mean that their behaviour, or the way they treated Joan Burton and Karen O’Connell, was in any way acceptable,” Mr Varadkar said.

“And I don’t think it was acceptable,” he said.