The Government and Garda Commissioner will urgently examine the future of officers implicated in the latest damning Morris Tribunal report, Finance Minister Brian Cowen said today.
Standing in for the Taoiseach Mr Cowen said that in light of yesterday's damning Morris Tribunal report, the Government and the Garda Commissioner will "urgently examine the implications" for individual officers.
The second report by Justice Morris published yesterday named a number of gardai who he found variously to have acted in a "prejudiced and negligent" manner in their investigation of the death of Donegal cattle dealer Richie Barron in 1996.
Mr Barron died in October 1996 on a country road near Raphoe, Co Donegal, in an apparent hit-and-run. Frank McBrearty jnr and his cousin, Mark McConnell, were arrested in connection with the death which gardaí treated as murder. The Morris tribunal found a statement from an informer implicating the pair was coerced by gardaí.
Frank McBrearty jnr's father, Frank snr, claims he and members of his extended family were subjected to harassment and intimidation by gardaí during the Barron investigation and for some years after.
As Garda representative groups said they accepted the findings of the report, Mr Cowen told the Dail the findings were "deeply troubling and shocking". "The Minister for Justice and the Government accept the findings of the report and will act on it," he said.
The Government and the Commissioner will now urgently examine the implications of the findings of this report for individual officers."
The Morris report strongly criticised at least 10 gardai and detailed a trail of mistakes and lies committed by officers which prevented the investigation reaching a successful conclusion.
A debate on the first and second interim reports will be held in the Dail and Seanad later this month. After last summer's first report, Superintendent Kevin Lennon was sacked while another superintendent and a chief superintendent retired.
The Garda Commissioner also dismissed a number of gardai. Mr Cowen added that substantial reforms were contained in the forthcoming Garda Siochana Bill, including an independent Ombudsman Commission to investigate complaints and an Inspectorate to report on the effectiveness of the force.
A special committee, headed by Senator Maurice Hayes will oversee the implementation of the Bill when enacted. The Commissioner will also soon unveil a comprehensive package of management reform within the force, Mr Cowen said.
"We've all been let down badly by the behaviour of a number of gardai in Donegal. It is difficult to overstate the disservice done to the ordinary decent gardai by the shocking misconduct outlined in this report."
The Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell will give his full response to the report when the debate takes place later this month.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said today the report raised fundamental issues about individual garda officers, garda management and political responses to the allegations. He called on Mr McDowell and his predecessor John O'Donoghue to say why they refused public inquiries and ongoing legal aid to the McBrearty family.
Mr Kenny paid tribute to politicians Jim Higgins and Brendan Howlin who stood up against a "ferocious onslaught" to pursue the truth through Dail questions on the matter.
"The integrity of the force should be beyond question and it should have the trust of the country. It's a shame that the Morris report points clearly at a rottenness at its core," he said.
Labour leader Pat Rabbitte claimed that Mr McDowell had "opposed tooth-and-nail" the creation of the Morris Tribunal. He recalled that Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy had recently described the Barron investigation as "thorough and efficient".
"That kind of thing should profoundly disturb this House," he added. He called for a Patten-style Commission to examine policing in the Republic. "Unaccountable power is a very dangerous thing and there is nothing in the Garda Siochana Bill that will address that," he concluded.
Green Party chairman John Gormley said that Mr McBrearty, who spoke at the party's recent conference, was "ruthlessy and viciously framed by the gardai".
"Their [McBrearty family] lives were made a hell. If it were not for the tenacity of the McBrearty family or Jim Higgins or Brendan Howlin, these issues would never have come to light," he said.
"Mr McDowell has successfully spun his way through his ministry and some people believe he is doing a good job. I don't believe he is doing a good job."
Sinn Fein TD Martin Ferris said the Morris findings were shocking but not surprising and reiterated his party's calls for a probe into the death of former Donegal councillor Eddie Fullerton.
The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) said many of its members were dismayed by the web of deceit, negligence and human tragedy uncovered by the Tribunal. General secretary Pat Flynn said the findings had been fully accepted and that senior officers were digesting the shocking details.
"We welcome the Morris Tribunal report and feel that it is a report that could do An Garda Siochana a lot of good in the long term if proper measures are taken to ensure that these sort of mistakes don't happen again," Mr Flynn said.
Frank McBrearty jnr last night called on the Taoiseach to sack Minister for Justice Michael McDowell "because we have been telling him for nearly nine years, since he was attorney general of this country, that we are innocent people being framed for a crime that didn't even happen".
Mr McDowell today said he was determined to lead the force through the current criticism. The 12,000 members of the force were "deeply shaken and embarrassed and on the back foot" because of what some members had done, he said.