Sir, – The concerns arising from the Garda Inspectorate penalty points report should be addressed vigorously and speedily by the Government.
Our unarmed gardaí are all that stand between the preservation of a reasonable level of safety and security and a breakdown in law and order and the unspeakable horrors that would entail. The misdeeds of a minority of gardaí should not detract in the slightest from the excellent service the force generally has provided over the decades. We hear of scandals affecting clergy, the legal profession, doctors, property developers, bankers . . . the list is a long one, but just as we can’t condemn all involved in these professions, neither should we taint all gardaí. Let us remember the men who gave their lives fighting crime in our name, and the many male and female gardaí injured in the line of duty.
The whistleblowers deserve great credit for exposing behaviour that must have no place within a force that includes the brave men and women who risk life and limb protecting us from those who would kill, rob, rape, defraud and terrorise other human beings.
Equally deserving of praise are the TDs who went out on a limb to highlight the penalty points issue, especially Clare Daly, who I think is one of the most principled politicians ever to enter Dáil Éireann. I believe she is helping to rescue Irish politics from the swamp of sleaze and cute hoorism it has languished in for far too long.
The Garda Síochána will be the better for extracting the bad apples from within its ranks and ending unacceptable practices that, unfairly, give the entire force a bad name. – Yours, etc,
JOHN FITZGERALD,
Lower Coyne Street,
Callan,
Co Kilkenny.
Sir, – Am I the only Irish citizen who is bewildered by the indignation and outrage expressed by some of our legislators, supported by a media frenzy, about the abuse of the penalty points system, when surely every dog in the street knew about it and even benefited from such discretion? – Yours, etc,
MG STOREY,
Glencar,
Sligo.