Garda body is 'proud' of acquitted officer

The largest Garda association has said it is "very proud" of Garda Donal Corcoran, following his acquittal on assault charges yesterday.

The Garda Representative Association, which represents almost 10,000 gardaí, said it was "very pleased" with the verdict. The association's president, Mr Dermot O'Donnell, said his organisation was "very proud" of the manner in which Garda Corcoran had behaved, saying he had conducted himself in an "honest, professional and forthright manner".

"If there are shortcomings that can be identified from this then they need to be addressed and changes implemented, and then we need to move on. The Garda Commissioner has a role in that, as does the Minister for Justice and ourselves.

"It is in every stakeholder's interest that any shortcomings, if identified, should be addressed."

Mr O'Donnell said the trial had been a "challenging experience on many levels" for Garda Corcoran and his family. However, he had been found not guilty by a unanimous verdict by a jury of his peers.

The trial demonstrated that Garda Corcoran had been confronted with an "extremely difficult" situation in policing the "Reclaim the Streets" protest in 2002.

He added the force had not been damaged in the eyes of the public following the protest. "Who gauges public opinion really? I think there are many ways you can look at it. If you look at the number of calls to gardaí from members of the public, helping to bring people to justice, that has not fallen off.

"You can try and judge public opinion using all kinds of polls, but on the operational side the calls from the public have not fallen off and that is what I would look to to measure public opinion. Most people realise that An Garda Síochána are honest people who are willing to go the extra mile to get the job done."