There was no hyperbole on the part of senior counsel Paul McDermott when he spoke at the Morris tribunal last week of the importance of a statement by Det Garda John Dooley that two women arrested during the investigation into the death of Richie Barron in 1996 were mistreated while in Garda custody. If it was true, Mr McDermott stated, sisters Róisín McConnell and Katrina Brolly, had been subjected to the most dreadful treatment and a most scandalous cover-up by the gardaí involved. And, if true, Dooley's statement marked a significant departure from the culture of lies and deceit and the unwillingness of gardaí to reveal a truth adverse to a colleague.
The edifice of denial constructed by some gardaí who are at the centre of the Morris inquiry has crumbled further since then: Det Sgt John White faxed a new statement to the tribunal on Saturday in which he reversed earlier denials that he had mistreated McConnell and Brolly; and Dooley broke down in the witness-box yesterday as he sought to apologise to the sisters.
These are but the latest in a series of revelations at the tribunal which have had a damaging effect on the public perception of the Garda. And the situation is likely to get worse before it gets better. Quite apart from the failings which permitted the events being considered by Mr Justice Morris to occur, the report of a second tribunal - chaired by Mr Justice Barr - into a siege at Abbeylara in 2000 is due to be published after Easter. The tribunal has been investigating the handling of the stand-off which ended when John Carthy was shot dead by gardaí.
The issues at stake in the two inquiries are qualitatively different but, in tandem, they give rise to public disquiet about the nature of Garda management and training. And they do so at a time when the force is attempting to respond to new extremes of crime: as demonstrated by the murder of Donna Cleary, the weekend shooting on the M50 and the use of machineguns in a raid in Dublin yesterday. At the same time, statistics cited by criminologist Paul O'Mahony show that the Irish criminal justice system relies excessively on imprisonment relative to other jurisdictions. And, simultaneously, the failure of successive governments to address the causes of crime in any significant way means that the Garda - irrespective of its weaknesses - is being left to pick up the pieces.
In a broad sense, Michael McDowell, as Minister for Justice, has been good for the Garda. Numbers are rising, albeit more slowly than promised. And the Minister has introduced a new Garda Ombudsman Commission - to investigate complaints against individual gardaí - and a new Garda Inspectorate, to ensure that the force is run to best international standards. It is abundantly clear, however, that both bodies face a challenge in helping to build public confidence given the questions that persist over the effectiveness of Garda structures and management, the adequacy of training and resources, and the tendency of some gardaí to uphold a code of honour to their colleagues rather than to the rule of law.