The three-year split among garda representatives has effectively come to an end with the dissident group agreeing to dissolve and tell its members to rejoin the Garda Representative Association. The decision was taken yesterday at a meeting of the national executive of the Garda Federation, the dissident group representing around 2,500 gardai who broke away in July 1994.
The meeting decided by a vote of 31 to 18 to dissolve the federation and to advise its members to apply to rejoin the GRA.
According to federation members in Dublin, there is likely to be residual opposition from members to reapplying to join an association which they left in protest over three years ago.
However, the effect of yesterday's vote would appear to be that the federation will cease to exist.
The federation is now expected to hold a ballot of its members and then hold an emergency delegate conference to ratify the decision of its national executive.
On ratification, federation members will be provided with forms authorising the Department of Justice to deduct GRA subscriptions from their salaries.
The last details of the process have been overseen by Mr Kevin Duffy, assistant general secretary of the ICTU. In a letter to the Garda Federation, Mr Duffy said that on completion of the process, "the Garda Federation will be dissolved and all of its members who have authorised payment of contributions to the united organisation will be transferred en bloc to the united organisation."
The ICTU proposes that an election be held to appoint new officers to the GRA.
There has been quite strong opposition within the Garda Federation to the moves. The federation president, Garda Denis Gallagher, wrote to members two weeks ago saying the proposal to ask members to rejoin the GRA as individuals "is monstrous and totally unacceptable". He said it was also a complete breach of a memorandum of agreement signed by both associations and representatives of four other dissident Garda divisions earlier this year.
GRA officials already have written to their members indicating that a likely date for the dissolution of the Garda Federation will be November 1st, at which point elections will begin within the GRA for new district and divisional officials.
The GRA split in 1994 after a series of running tensions erupted over the acceptance of a pay deal which was opposed by mainly younger, urban-based members.
A series of attempts to resolve the dispute failed until the help of the ICTU leadership was enlisted last year. The GRA agreed to a number of changes to its constitution earlier this year.