Madam, - Michael Finucane's article (August 21) was an inaccurate and disingenuous analysis of An Garda Síochána in the wake of the Morris reports. In particular Mr Finucane twisted the meaning of part of a speech delivered by the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell in April of this year.
He quotes the minister as follows: "In the dark days after the Morris tribunal I have always said the vast majority of gardaí are people that I respect and whose feelings of betrayal I share". Mr Finucane then writes that what the Minister meant by these word is "if the Minister feels that he and his Garda friends are entitled to feel betrayed by the tribunal in its findings, then they have learned nothing". Mr Finucane is either incapable of understanding a speech or he deliberately choose to mislead your readers. I believe he meant the latter, but maybe I am giving him too much credit for being a solicitor.
The Minister was making the salient point that he and members of the Garda were betrayed, not by the Morris reports, but by the members of the force who acted wrongly. Mr Finucane on the other hand dismisses the entire force as "where success is measured by how well one can scheme, manipulate the system to your own ends". Once again Mr Finucane is deliberately misleading your readers in pursuit of an agenda where running down decent hard-working gardaí suits his purpose.
Under the direction of Michael McDowell, An Garda Síochána has started to instill checks and balances necessary for a modern police force. The establishment of the Ombudsman Commission and the new code of Conduct for An Garda will strengthen the accountability of the force. Your, etc,
JOHN KENNY, Monkstown Valley, Co Dublin