We need to set up a forum on policing to help shape the change that is inevitable, writes P.J. Stone
Some years ago, the media made much of the story of William Geary, a member of An Garda Síochána based in Clare who had been dismissed in 1928 for allegedly being bribed by the IRA.
He spent the intervening eight decades trying to clear his name from his adopted home in New York and after a media campaign, was eventually pardoned by the then justice minister, John O'Donoghoe. Much was made at the time of his great age (he was over 100 when pardoned) and his lifelong struggle to right the perceived wrong he felt had cut his career in Irish policing short, almost as if he would not rest until the matter had been resolved.
Amid all the political hullabaloo surrounding the case, one crucial aspect of it was overlooked. It was William Geary's sense of justice and not a sense of the injustice visited upon him which sustained him throughout his lifelong campaign to clear his name.
Such people still exist in An Garda Síochána today, therefore I believe that the collective sense of justice within the force will enable its members to prevail long after the workings of the myriad of tribunals have run their course.
Those who would tarnish the name of our organisation are not welcome in our ranks. We are a progressive police force that is in demand the world over for our unrivalled experience in policing difficult circumstances with nothing other than the moral authority of the people we serve.
An Garda Síochána, probably more than most police forces, has had to contend with a very real and underlying threat to its legitimate authority since its very inception, with many of its members having paid the ultimate price for the performance of their duties.
There is a lesson in policing for us all in this. When the tried and tested means of policing based on local knowledge is cast aside, the entire system comes to a halt with far-reaching consequences. When it is usurped by its own members for their own benefit, the consequences are even graver, leaving as it does a police force cut adrift from those it is charged with protecting.
This is the appalling vista of any police force and only through the hard earnest work of those left behind to pick up the pieces can it be rectified.
It is with these members of An Garda Síochána, who must start all over again with the public, that the Garda Representative Association will concern itself as we face into the most challenging period of policing in Ireland since the 1920s.
The recent Morris tribunal interim report into allegations of misconduct in Donegal has been hugely damaging for Garda morale. For our detractors, this has been proven to be a blessing. The vast majority of Garda members, who are doing a difficult job in difficult circumstances regret very much that the force is cast into this shocking and unsavoury position. No member likes to see the good name and reputation of the force being sullied in any way.
It is most regrettable that the issues in Donegal were not dealt with more swiftly and more ruthlessly by senior management in the division at that time. The serious issues that are so much in the public eye must be addressed and aired without equivocation, but these must be put into context and scale of all the work of the force - and put into context of the valiant work of the members of the Garda Síochána in the Donegal division itself.
The fine job that has been done by An Garda Síochána in Donegal is recognised within the body of the report of the Morris tribunal; members who were responsible for the intelligence-gathering and the uncovering of bomb-making materials that would have had a devastating effect on life both North and South of the Border are praised in the findings. This balance and sense of perspective must be maintained.
It is interesting to note, throughout the history of An Garda Síochána, that despite its successes at curtailing the real and imminent threat from paramilitary activity which threatened the very core of the democratic institutions of this State, it has rarely come out with its own reputation intact.
In any of the great atrocities visited on this State and indeed North of the Border, critics of the Garda have been quick to point to the questionable decisions of gardaí at the time of such incidents as the Dublin/Monaghan bombings or indeed that of the Omagh atrocity and what was or was not known by gardaí at the time could probably could be regarded as negative journalism at its best.
While not diminishing the grave findings of the circumstances surrounding those events in 1993, it must be remembered that there is no evidence to suggest that such a situation exists today. Once again, one must have a sense of balance and a sense of perspective about the force now.
There is a need to ensure that this cannot and does not happen again - whatever support needs to be given to the Garda Commissioner and his management personnel to bring about change - there is no doubt that the staff associations will participate fully and play their part. There is now perhaps a greater question that must be posed: what type of policing and police service is required to deal with the everyday issues of the service we provide?
It is timely that a forum on policing is set up where all interested points of view would be taken on board, analysed and scrutinised. The stakeholders of the organisation itself could also have their say on how they view themselves and the problems they face daily. An open-ended process and a clear assimilation of views could move us into a new era.
This would be a far more beneficial exercise for the other stakeholders in Irish policing - the Irish people. Political calls to establish yet another quango-like committee makes a mockery of the real need to engage people on this issue at all levels and not just for the benefit of a select few politicians trying to earn brownie points with their electorate by taking the force to task over its perceived shortcomings, which after the current climate of reform-mania, we hope would be few.
We must learn from our mistakes, acknowledge our shortcomings and indeed our human frailties and deal with problems where they exist, but equally we must not extinguish the torch of a good police service that has been recognised as such by the vast majority of people on this island.
P.J. Stone is secretary general of the Garda Representative Association