The Government has delayed for far too long in confronting serious criminality and worsening discipline within the Garda Síochána. Ten years ago, the death of Richie Barron and a related Garda murder inquiry in Co Donegal set alarm bells ringing.
But it has taken three inconclusive internal Garda investigations and four years of painstaking and expensive work by the Morris tribunal to force the Government into producing new disciplinary procedures to deal with a small group of corrupt and out- of-control policemen.
In all of this, the effectiveness of Garda Headquarters in directing, monitoring and disciplining its members was found wanting. Donegal was allowed to become a sink of duplicity and of police conspiracies that perverted the course of justice. And the Morris tribunal is currently investigating anonymous allegations of Garda corruption at the highest level.
The seriousness of the situation cannot be exaggerated. A credible and trustworthy police force is a keystone of democracy. And Mr Justice Frederick Morris makes it clear that insubordination and abuses of official power were not confined to Donegal. A Government that has taken 10 years to respond to such a breakdown of authority must shoulder some of the responsibility for the situation.
In making its findings, the "balance of probability" was the standard of proof applied by the tribunal. It concluded that Det Sgt John White had deliberately planted a shotgun at a Travellers' encampment, something the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt in a recent criminal prosecution. It found that he had been involved in an attack on a television mast and had encouraged other gardaí to break the law. And it identified abuses in the operation of Garda agents.
It was not all black. The reports praised the integrity and courage of named Garda officers who had refused to become embroiled in this criminality. But it found a core of influential members would not obey orders, follow procedures or tell the truth, and that they had no respect for their officers. Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has had these reports since last May and he promised new disciplinary procedures before the Dáil recess. That did not happen. And it will take some time before the draft regulations are implemented. Even then, the 26 pages of disciplinary structures and procedures are likely to provide fertile ground for legal challenge.
But a critical disciplinary change proposed by the Morris tribunal has been adopted by the Government. It will become a punishable offence in future if a garda refuses to account for his actions while on duty or to answer questions fully and truthfully to an official investigation. That will represent a major advance in addressing problems of insubordination and indiscipline. Donegal represented a shameful episode for the force and its leaders. There is a mammoth task ahead in ensuring that accountability, obedience to authority and service to the community again become the hallmark of the Garda.