The chairman of the Garda Complaints Board, Mr Gordon Holmes, has performed a valuable public service by drawing attention to the failure by individual members of the Garda Síochána to co-operate with its investigation into the policing methods used during a Reclaim the Streets protest in Dublin last May.
His initiative in establishing a formal investigation broke new ground, as did his decision to comment on the refusal by rank-and-file members to identify a number of colleagues on duty that day. He concluded that many gardai put loyalty to their colleagues ahead of loyalty to the institution they served.
Mr Holmes' comments should act as a wake-up call to all members of the Garda Síochána. Their effectiveness as a community policing force depends primarily on public trust and respect. But a series of unrelated controversies has served to undermine that relationship. A perception is abroad that some members of the gardai are out of control. A pernicious tendency exists within all professions and occupations for individuals to make allowances for unfit colleagues or to cover up their failings. But members of the Garda Síochána cannot countenance such behaviour. If the developing rot is not stopped, their hard-won authority, social standing and effectiveness within the community will be seriously damaged.
Seven gardai are facing charges of assault, on the instructions of the Director of Public Prosecutions, arising from the Dublin incidents which led to 12 protesters being arrested and a further 12 receiving medical treatment. Seven or eight gardai who used their batons excessively on that occasion could not be clearly recognised on video footage and their colleagues subsequently refused to identify them. And more than 20 others face disciplinary action for not wearing identification letters and numbers on their clothing during the disturbances. It would appear from all of this that, in the absence of evidence captured on camera, no disciplinary action would have been possible. That is an appalling situation.
The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, has supported the Board's decision to investigate the May Day incidents. And he approved the action by Mr Holmes, in publicising a lack of co-operation by those rank-and-file members involved, against charges of injudicious timing and bias by the general secretary of the Garda Representative Association, Mr P J Stone. In doing so, the Minister emphasised his determination to introduce long-delayed disciplinary reforms involving legislation and an Independent Garda Inspectorate with the powers of an Ombudsman. He said members of the Garda, because of their privileged and central role in enforcing the law, had a particular duty - subject to the protection of their constitutional rights - to co-operate fully with any official inquiry. It is a point of view Mr Stone should take on board in representing the long-term interests of his members.