Sir, – Edward Burke (June 24th) states that "he is amazed that the Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald has decided to extend the search for a new Garda commissioner to foreign nationals".
We often hear members of the Cabinet talking about Ireland’s world-class this and world-class that, so surely the Minister for Justice has a clear mandate to try and attract the best possible candidates, and, who knows, the successful applicant might be of Irish descent.
The point here is that this person must be capable of not only changing the present culture in the Garda, but also of introducing initiatives and restoring morale. This is a huge task, and might just be too difficult for a home-grown candidate – although not impossible.
I am reminded of the reaction of a certain TD, who upon hearing an “outsider” had been appointed the new regulator at the Central Bank, snorted “we don’t need foreigners telling us how to run our businesses”!
It is that embedded parochial attitude which the Minister of Justice will have to resist. – Yours, etc,
MIKE CORMACK,
Ardagh Close,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.