It is a time for calm deliberation, strategic thinking and compromise within the lower ranks of the Garda Síochána, as the Government moves ahead to recruit 900 members of a new, part-time Garda Reserve.
The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) and the Garda Representative Association (GRA) have made clear their reservations concerning the new force. But, as guardians of the law in a democratic State, they must accept the will of the Oireachtas and the decisions formally taken by the Government.
Senior ranks of the Garda Síochána have co-operated with the new initiative and are preparing to operate structures devised by the Garda Commissioner. But, without the voluntary support of gardaí, sergeants and inspectors, the full potential of the reserve force may never be realised. It is one thing to provide basic training for part-time reservists at the Garda College in Templemore and to empower them, through regulations, to act alone in certain circumstances. But, if they are not supervised and assisted by full-time law officers while performing their official duties, their standing in the community may be undermined. And the benefits secured by other European countries, where such forces operate, could be lost.
There is firm public support for the introduction of a Garda Reserve. The symbiotic linkage that such a force would provide between concerned communities and the professional police service would be of immense benefit in terms of co-operation and an exchange of intelligence. There is no question of the reserve becoming a yellow-pack police force, as some of its opponents originally suggested. And the threat of targeting vulnerable Dáil seats in a campaign of opposition has been withdrawn.
The Garda Síochána is undergoing reform. Society has evolved rapidly in recent decades and has become more wealthy, complex and multi-cultural. Policing methods, along with organisation and disciplinary structures, must reflect those changes. Members of long-established institutions, such as the Garda, can find this difficult to accept. But, if the public is to be served efficiently and well, new methods must be embraced and shaped in such a way that they will serve all interests.
There is nothing to be gained - and everything to be lost - if the GRA and the AGSI persevere in their strident opposition to the establishment of a police reserve. Public confidence in the police force has already been shaken by the findings of the Morris Tribunal in Donegal. In such circumstances, a display of indiscipline and insubordination by the major representative bodies would be disastrous. Far better: quiet negotiation and compromise.