Madam, – Conor Brady rightly praises the recent address by Mr Justice Paul Carney at NUI Maynooth, but spoils that praise by harping on about “gardaí of the Jim Brannigan school” (“Policing styles from the past no longer have a place”, Opinion, March 3rd) . Let me declare an interest: my late father (like Conor’s) and my great-uncle (Jim Hunt) were among the earliest members of the Garda Síochána in the 1920s.
Mr Brady, in highlighting the role of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, seems to imply that the rigorous training and day-to-day internal oversight of the Garda might not be enough to ensure maintenance of standards without the added layer of the Ombudsman’s office to act as guarantor.
We are indebted to the (largely) unarmed gardaí who put their lives on the line for our citizens every day. Theirs is an unenviable task and they deserve our unqualified support. In the recent past we have read of the incredible bravery of unarmed gardaí, men and women, who have confronted dangerous criminals on our streets.
I am not naive enough to think there are no bad apples. There are, as in all walks of life, and they should be rooted out. However, it would have been helpful if Mr Brady had put more emphasis on the excellent quality of unstinting service that we receive from gardaí overall, and the high regard in which they are held by the public, rather than the implication that all might be not be well but for the knight in shining armour that is his office.
Remember that gardaí are human too. If the balance of oversight is not fairly maintained, and gardaí are not given our full backing, we need not whinge or be surprised if members think twice on occasion when confronted with dangerous situations. Morale, once dented, for whatever reason, takes a long time to repair.
Mr Brady will be familiar with the saying Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? That surely applies equally to the Garda Ombudsman Commission office. I hope we can be assured that the commission gives value for money in these hard times and that it is not duplicating any aspect of the work of other agencies.
I look forward to reading an independent assessment of its work and actual outputs over the coming months. – Yours, etc,