YESTERDAY'S public criticism by the GRA leadership, who are all serving members of the Garda, comes against a background of prolonged dispute over the affairs of Garda representation.
The Government, and its Fianna Fail Labour predecessors, have tried various means to resolve the internal dispute which has split the Garda representatives.
The latest efforts by the Minister for Justice has been to introduce legislation establishing a reconstituted Garda representative body which will heal the split which has led about 3,500 gardai to leave the GRA. The legislation has led to legal challenges by the association which are currently before the High Court.
Mrs Owen intervened in internal GRA elections earlier this year to prevent the appointment of new officers after it was decided that this would interrupt the setting up of a new association.
The GRA brought an injunction against the Minister and this has turned into a fully fledged legal challenge which is expected to be heard before the end of the year.
The legal challenge is the latest in a series of stand offs between the Minister's office and the GRA which have been marked by criticism of the Minister's position.
There have previously been at least five attempts to resolve the dispute all of which have been rejected by the GRA which continues to strongly resent what it sees as tampering in its internal affairs.
The previous Minister for Justice, Mrs Maire Geoghegan Quinn, also had a difficult relationship with the GRA and had threatened to dissolve the association shortly before she left office in December, 1994. Attempts by her, Mrs Owen and others, including the former head of the GRA, Mr Jack Marrinan, to resolve the internal Garda dispute all failed.
There have been previous criticism of Mrs Owen from the GRA. Earlier this year, the deputy general secretary of the GRA, Mr P.J. Stone, criticised her during a radio interview. The then Garda Commissioner, Mr Patrick Culligan issued a public statement denouncing the criticism and apologising to the Minister.
Two years ago, Mr Culligan again had to issue a public retraction after the GRA criticised Government legislation on drink driving.
There have also been previous criticisms of the Minister in the GRA magazine, Garda Review, but none as strong or as politically pointed as yesterday's editorial.
Yesterday's statement by the GRA general secretary, Mr John Ferry, accusing the Minister of "extraordinary arrogance" is beyond any previous criticism levelled at a senior political figure by a serving officer in the Garda.
Senior gardai last night felt the issuing of the statement may bring the long running dispute between the office of the Minister for Justice and the GRA to a head. The statement was seen as a direct challenge to the authority of the Minister at a crucial point in the dispute and just as it is about to be aired in the High Court.
There was no indication late last night, however, of any action being taken against Mr Ferry or his association before the resolution of the High Court case and the progress of the Government legislation on a reconstituted representative association.