THE second annual conference of the breakaway Garda staff association, the Garda Federation, takes place in Dublin today amid further internal arguments about representation and finances.
The federation represents about 2,500 officers of garda rank who broke away from the Garda Representative Association (GRA) three years ago. All but about 200 of its members are based in Dublin and an internal row has broken out over alleged over-representation of country members in the delegates' list for today's conference in Malahide.
The 200 members from rural divisions appear to be represented at the conference by 25 delegates while the 2,300 Dublin members have 41 delegates representing them. One of the main reasons given by the federation leadership for breaking away from the GRA in 1994 was that Dublin gardai were under-represented.
It is expected that at least one Dublin district will propose that Dublin members should set up their own representative association. This latest dissent follows attempts to reintegrate the federation with the GRA.
The official conference agenda includes debates on proposals to re-amalgamate the federation and the proposed rules for an agreed new representative association.
Another internal row in the Garda Federation concerns its finances and a decision by the leadership to repay a £90,000 loan made to the federation by the Department of Justice in 1995 for legal costs incurred in a lawsuit with the GRA.