Sinn Féin should call on two IRA members still on the run from gardaí for their part in the killing of Det Garda Jerry McCabe to give themselves up, the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) has said.
While it thanked Minister for Justice Michael McDowell for confronting republican "bullyboys", the association dismissed "with utter contempt" the recent apology from the killers of Det Garda McCabe.
"It is a public relations exercise that is breathtaking in its cynicism," said AGSI president Joe Dirwan at the opening of the annual conference in Kilkenny last night.
"Is one really to believe that after all these years these people are finally sorry for what they have done? And what about the others who are still sought for this heinous crime? Are they sorry too? Are they sorry enough to give themselves up, come forward, own up and take their medicine? I'm sorry, I just don't believe it.
"And why does Sinn Féin not call on these killers to give themselves up? I call on them to do so," Mr Dirwan said.
He told delegates that the pressure on Garda station budgets was so great that the "main emphasis [ within the force] is now on balancing budgets rather than fighting crime". District officers were spending a great deal of their time trying to maintain figures and to record crime rather than devise effective crime-fighting strategies.
He added morale among uniformed members of the force had been repeatedly "shattered" because these gardaí were being repeatedly passed over for promotion in favour of plain-clothes detectives and members working in specialist units.
This had resulted in a culture in which young gardaí saw moving away from uniformed duties as the best way to advance their careers. This was not a positive development and could only be avoided by a promotions system divorced from Garda management.
Currently regional commanders influence the promotion process.
On fighting crime, Mr Dirwan said the force needed to devise new ways of reacting to the threat in Ireland of Eastern European crime gangs, who deployed "vicious and brutal methods". The IRA continued to engage in "thuggery, robbery, murder and mayhem" and to exercise "control by fear and intimidation over whole communities".
He strongly criticised the Government's record on improving conditions at Garda stations, many of which were "absolute kips".
There were too many State agencies involved in advancing such plans and the system needed to be slimmed down in the interests of achieving results.
The mooted Garda Inspectorate should not only address errant behaviour by members of the force but should have a proactive role in bringing about any change needed within the force. It should also highlight shortcomings in resources and any other issues around which public debate is needed.
Garda staff associations should be permitted to raise issues with the inspectorate and, in general terms, there should be more consultation by Garda management with the staff associations.
Nine committees had been set up by Garda management to examine the fall-out from the interim report of the Morris tribunal, yet the staff associations had been offered just one place on one of the committees.
Addressing Mr McDowell directly, he criticised the Minister's lack of consultation with the staff associations when recently increasing to 35 years the maximum age at which new recruits can join the force.