Culture wars fail to eclipse staffing concerns at Garda conference

The culture wars finally arrived at Garda Headquarters this week, only for a ceasefire to be declared almost immediately.

Questions of gender and pronouns seemed set to dominate the annual general conference of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI). At the outset of proceedings in Galway, AGSI’s leadership declared its opposition to the new Directive on Gender Identity in the Workplace which mandates that gardaí should use the proper pronouns and names when dealing with colleagues transitioning gender.

The directive had been “dropped in” without any consultation or training, AGSI general secretary Antoinette Cunningham said. But this is no Enoch Burke situation; Cunningham was at pains to make clear AGSI is not against trans people or the use of correct pronouns.

Rather, the organisation wants a “badly needed” programme of education so it can give “total support to colleagues who are transitioning and have transitioned. Because,” she continued, “the worst thing we could do for people who wish to transition is misgender them, not give them the appropriate pronouns, not support them in the workplace, not provide the appropriate facilities.

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“We as supervisors have a particular role in that, we want to support colleagues. So it’s more important to get this right rather than dropping a directive in without the appropriate information that is badly needed.”

AGSI’s protests worked, and with unusual speed. Less than 24 hours after the start of the conference, word came from Garda HQ that the directive is being temporarily withdrawn.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris later made it clear the directive is on the way but that consultation with representative groups will happen first.

However, even before the Commissioner’s capitulation, many AGSI members wondered whether there weren’t more important things they should be focusing on. The same was true over the controversy regarding Sinn Féin housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin having posted a tweet of a mocked-up image depicting gardaí overseeing an eviction during Famine times.

AGSI leadership led the backlash, with Cunningham calling the tweet “deeply offensive and wholly inappropriate”. She later accepted Ó Broin’s “remorse” and this seemed to be the end of matters. But that didn’t stop Minister for Justice Simon Harris from having a final pop at the Sinn Féin TD. “Imagine what he would do in Government,” he said at the conference on Monday evening.

It’s becoming office-based, sitting behind a computer inputting stats on a computer system instead of being out on the streets, patrolling, serving the people

—  Sgt Kevin Sexton

“We’ve more important things to worry about” was a phrase uttered more than once by members in the bar at the Salthill Hotel at the end of the first day’s proceedings. That included the fact that gardaí, particularly young members, are going to be just as affected by the expected tsunami of evictions as the rest of society, following the lifting of the Government’s eviction ban.

Gardaí are “at both sides of this”, Cunningham said. “It’s a difficult issue, a very sensitive issue, and we try and deal with this as sensitively as we can,” she said, before calling on the Commissioner to give clarity to gardaí on their exact function when policing evictions.

As well as perennial conference favourites, such as calls for front-line gardaí to be armed with Tasers, much of the concern this year concerned proposed changes to the Garda roster system, which members believe will mean more work and less opportunity for overtime.

AGSI refrained from going nuclear and withdrawing labour during next week’s visit of US president Joe Biden, but it warned industrial action will take place in future if their concerns are not addressed.

Also at the fore of delegates’ minds was the high number of people leaving the force early due to an increased workload, added bureaucracy and the rising numbers of assaults on gardaí.

According to AGSI, since 2016 there has been a 345 per cent increase in gardaí leaving early.

[ Artist behind Garda eviction image believes ‘people are missing the point’ ]

“The job has changed,” said Sgt Kevin Sexton, of Castlerea, Co Roscommon. “It’s becoming office-based, sitting behind a computer inputting stats on a computer system instead of being out on the streets, patrolling, serving the people, communicating with the people and listening to the people’s issues.”

Speaking privately, others were more pessimistic, repeating a phrase that can be heard more frequently across all ranks: “The job is f**ked.”