The charges and counter charges now swirling about the Urlingford drugs operation are probably not exercising the public to any great degree. The issues braised by the controversy, notably the level of accountability of the Garda, will probably be seen as a distraction from the more pressing task of bringing the drug barons to justice. In recent days, there has been an unwelcome tendency to portray those who have questioned the Urlingford operation as negative, reckless people with little appreciation of the threat which the drugs problem poses. The irony is that the issues thrown up by the Urlingford debacle raise the most pertinent questions about the State's ability to combat the pernicious work of the drugs dealers.
When the Garda seized the £130 million worth of cannabis last November they were not slow to trumpet the operation. The public was told that the seizure' was the largest in the history of the State. The Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, suggested that the joint Garda/Customs/Naval Service operation underlined the smooth level of cooperation between those at the sharp end of the drugs war. The reality, however, was rather different: as investigations by the Drugs and Crime Correspondent of this newspaper, revealed, the `seizure' was a `sting' operation which went badly wrong. The major drugs dealers who were expected to pick up the cargo never surfaced. There, were no follow up charges. There have been no convictions. And the operation was undermined by the longstanding territorial feud between the Garda and Customs, with allegations that vital information had been leaked at a very sensitive moment in the investigation.
It is clear that the Garda authorities now want to close the book on the operation. A statement from Garda Headquarters on Sunday said that lives were at risk and that an international investigation had been seriously damaged. But is the risk to the investigation any greater now, some four months after the operation, than it was in November when the Garda notified the media about the seizure'?
The Garda statement that the operation is being undermined by political point scoring is also unwise. The questions raised in the Dail by the Progressive Democrats spokeswoman on Justice, Ms Liz O'Donnell, are important and well grounded. In this context, the implied criticism of Ms O'Donnell in the Garda statement is an unwelcome departure from a well established tradition in which the force stays aloof from party politics.
All told, the Garda authorities might benefit from a more open minded approach. Few fair minded people have any quibble with `sting' operations or other elaborate means of apprehending drugs traffickers. Most people appreciate that the task of apprehending major drugs dealers is a complex business in which risks will be taken and mistakes made. No responsible journalist would wilfully undermine an important drugs investigation.
But, when the dust settles, the Garda cannot expect to be able to veto debate in the Dail and in the media in order to spare their blushes. To date, the Garda, the Minister, Mrs Owen, and in the Dail yesterday, the Minister for Finance, Mr Quinn, have all engaged in a process of obfuscation. Mistakes were made in Urlingford which allowed a major drugs dealer to slip from the grasp of the Garda. It is clear that the operation was undermined by some petty squabbles among the various agencies involved. The task facing the Garda Commissioner, Mr Culligan, and Mrs Owen, is to ensure that the lessons are absorbed and that corrective measures perhaps on the lines of establishing one agency to combat the drugs traffickers are taken. There is nothing to be gained from shooting the messenger.