The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, has claimed comments by his wife, Prof Niamh Brennan, about the gardaí had been "turned around by the media" to give the impression she had no trust in the police force. Seán MacConnell and Mark Hennessy report.
Speaking at the National Ploughing Association Championships in Ballinabrackey, Co Meath, yesterday, the Minister appeared to be attempting to bring an end to controversy created by his wife's remarks published in the Sunday Times last weekend.
Asked if he wished his wife had not made her comments, Mr McDowell said: "My wife speaks for herself and speaks as a mother protecting her child. She is entitled to do that. She said that as far as she was concerned, she said every member of the Garda Síochána she had met was fantastic, and that is my view," he said.
"As far as I am concerned a couple of people are doing a lot of damage by unauthorised leaks to the media. The vast majority of the Garda is a wonderful force and I have huge confidence in it."
In her interview in the Sunday Times, Prof Brennan said the release of her son's name to the media after he was assaulted had led her to the conclusion that she would be "reluctant to get the guards involved" in any future incident.
She added: "All the guards I have dealt with are fantastic, but what has not been nice is that some have given stories to the newspapers."
When it was put to Mr McDowell yesterday that his wife had given the impression that she did not trust any gardaí, he said she had not given that impression. "The media has given that impression. She said the exact opposite. She said quite the reverse and said every guard she had ever met was fantastic.
"Unfortunately, the media has turned that around in its headlines and said she did not trust the gardaí and that is all wrong," he added.
Referring to an incident in which her 14-old-old son had been attacked by four youths, Prof Brennan was quoted as saying: "If it happened again, I have to say I would be reluctant to get the guards involved. If I was attacked tomorrow, for example, I would be very reluctant to go to the guards because I know my name would go in the paper."
On Sunday, The Irish Times specifically asked the Minister's office if Ms Brennan had been quoted accurately and in context. On that occasion, the Minister chose to make no comment.
The remarks made by Ms Brennan have focused additional attention this week on the Minister's proposal to jail gardaí for up to seven years for unapproved communications with the press.
Asked if all of this had lessened his trust in the media because of the way they had treated the story, the Minister replied it was not a matter of his trusting the media. "I think the vast, vast majority of the media is as good as the vast, vast majority of the gardaí," he said.
On the proposed Garda Inspectorate, he said if it had to investigate every allegation against the force, such as claims of rudeness, the body would have to be about 2,000-strong.
He said he would take very seriously any allegations by Father Peter McVerry, made on RTÉ radio, of ill-treatment by the gardaí of homeless boys in Dublin.
Reforms to make Garda more accountable "largely cosmetic":
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