It is not difficult to appreciate the bemusement of members of the Garda Síochána which has become apparent over recent days. Three weeks ago the force was inundated with sympathy over the deaths of two members on duty in Dublin. Those sentiments were largely and speedily displaced with antipathy arising out of the behaviour of a small minority of members during the May Day demonstrations in Dublin. Gardaí feel bewildered and hurt. Morale and confidence must suffer.
The General Secretary of the Garda Representative Association, Mr P J Stone, used his annual conference to rally his members. The Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, used the same platform to hit out at what he considers to be unfair treatment by the media. They both understand that police performance on the ground is greatly influenced by the frame of mind in the locker room and in the patrol car.
Mr Stone has a political constituency to mind. But he is on very infirm ground, and he does his members little service, by assuring them that the public does not want the gardaí to be subject to independent scrutiny in the performance of their duty. And it is uncharacteristic of the Commissioner - a skilled media performer himself - to take up a shoot-the-messenger stance. The sound of Garda drawbridges being pulled up suggests a step backwards to the siege mentality and isolationism which the force had begun to move away from in recent years.
There are other factors in the equation. The Garda is rightly proud of its standards and members are aware that the most serious and far-reaching allegations of institutionalised wrong-doing are at present before the courts. Garda nerves are raw and self-esteem is threatened.
But the force has to square up to the reality that independent oversight is on the way and it will be a permanent feature of policing for the future. The Association of Sergeants and Inspectors, to its credit, has recognised this and welcomed it. So too has the Commissioner. The reality is that the Garda Síochána has lagged far behind international best practice in this regard for decades. It is 33 years since the Conroy Report recommended the establishment of a police authority. It is more then 25 years since the O Briain Report sought the introduction of a series of safeguards - the majority of which were never implemented.
This tardiness is not the fault of the guards themselves but of successive governments which have been reluctant to loosen their hold over the force. The Garda has always been a rich field for political patronage and clientilism. But the comparison which must now be drawn with the Police Service of Northern Ireland reflects poorly on the Garda Síochána. The PSNI is modelled to very high standards of transparency, independence and accountability. The Garda remains essentially an arm of central government.
Change is on the way, driven by the need for consistency across the island and by public opinion. Painting the media as unsympathetic or antipathetic will not avert it. The gardaí will serve their own interests best by accepting it and adapting to it.