Letters to the Editor: Garda Commissioner's dubious legacy
Will His To In Harris Time Garda Role Missioner Seek Extend Not His Current Drew
The news that Drew Harris will not seek to extend his time as Garda Commissioner does not come as a surprise for many on the frontline, and is possibly a sense of relief for many.
My reasons for saying this are because of the schism, or fracture, that has emerged over a period of time between Garda HQ and those working at the coalface.
The idea, first and foremost, that the policing authority or the Government of the day thought it was a good idea to hand over the keys of our policing, security, and intelligence to him says something for the judgement of those who saw him as a reformist and safe pair of hands.
The outcome was very different and has had a ripple effect through the force itself and the Irish community.
The introduction of the policing model in 2019, untested and uncosted, and which, in all intent and purpose, was a hypothetical model based on assumptions, was to be the cornerstone of policing in Ireland for decades to come. The reality was that it was a failure.
A vote of no confidence, suspensions, resignations, strict disciplinary oversight, rostering, promoting other PSNI officers to senior positions in Garda HQ, reducing the number of districts, expanding divisions, recruitment, and retention, will be what this commissioner will remembered for.
That homegrown Garda officers are prevented from applying for senior positions, due to tax implications, shows a two-tier system within the force and which is aided by this Government and the minister for justice.
This minister, who appeared for photoshoots before the Dublin riots, should consider her position. Her failure to bridge differences between the GRA and the commissioner, and her refusal to attend the conference says all there needs to be said about her tenure in office.
A weak, absent minister who has lost the confidence of communities and the frontline gardaí themselves.
Maybe Mr Harris will be rewarded with a sir or a lord title after he moves on in 2025 enjoying, like most other officers from outside Ireland who were subsumed into the force, the benefits of his career in two jurisdictions.
Hopefully, the next commissioner will get back to basics, with communities at the heart of policing, and not the bureaucratic and academic policing model that has dogged the force for these last few years.
Emerging from covid to the unprecedented energy crisis brought about by the war in Ukraine as energy providers doubled/ tripled/ quadrupled was the beginning of the end for many.
Coupled with massive cost hikes in food costs and changes in Government policy regarding minimum wage and sick pay, many more had no option but to close their doors.
Weary and heartbroken, as the almost daily posts on socials attest, it has been one after another — and most of them along our tourist routes and in many of our smaller towns.
Dublin as a capital will always thrive, that is just geography and economics.
When the Vat increase was returned last year, it was widely spouted by the Government that the price gouging of hotels was the main reason for the additional 50% cost to business by reverting to 13.5%.
However, no local rural cafe can adjust the price of a cup of coffee, or the local takeaway the price of a bag of chips because Taylor Swift is coming to town.
Hotels have shown they can well absorb the Vat hike.
Ireland may be marketed to foreigners as a premium food destination, thus preparing those tempted to visit for the expense. Will those same visitors appreciate the Wild Atlantic Way with only a Starbucks or McDonald’s to choose from?
Because that’s where we are headed if this issue is not given serious consideration in the upcoming budget.
Meantime, following last November’s appalling rioting, intimidation, and property destruction in Dublin — and in the wake of the more recent Coolock rioting — we have seen the usual Irish 'law-and-order' charade play out.
Offenders being brought to court by our hard-working gardaí; petty bail amounts imposed by our judges, and the offenders are back on the street within hours of their arrest.
And we will wait months at least before a full hearing of their cases, where taxpayer-funded lawyers will plead for their clients, and minimal or no custodial sentences will ensue.
We have had lots of rhetoric from our justice minister and other members of Government about getting tougher on the wave of anti-immigrant criminality that has erupted in this country over the past year.
The new Labour government in Britain has set the bar now for our Government, and all the political parties, for what law-abiding citizens of this country have sought for years, and now demand.
The "safety" aspect of the Road Safety Authority tends to be overlooked these days in favour of other operations within the authority’s remit.
Frequently, I note how the authority resorts to shock tactics as a means of "educating" the public on road safety.
Only today, I spotted a mural in a shopping centre mirror styled as a death notice emblazoned with the RSA logo, shaming the onlooker into being a better driver; the recent aggressively advertised radio campaign is in the same vein.
While I understand the end necessarily justifies the means, I ask myself — if this emotional blackmail is what the RSA is resorting to, where exactly did the breakdown in communication with the public happen?
Does the RSA itself have too many responsibilities which are beyond its capabilities? Would public monies be better spent on a new, revitalised road safety quango with fewer, devolved responsibilities?
As a young driver on a five-month waiting list for a driving test, and non-existent public transport to get to and from work, I would greatly appreciate a brand-new, streamlined, driver testing authority.
I grimly wonder if things could be any worse on the roads at the moment.
Their articles in last Saturday’s on the slaughter of journalists in Gaza, and on the Freedom Flotilla, and those in previous papers, gave us hope for journalism in Ireland. It is for this that we read the .
Gach rath ar an obair agus Saoirse don Phailistín.
The number of journalists and humanitarian workers killed by Israeli occupation forces are such as to clearly represent an Israeli government strategy of targeting and assassination.
There can be no other explanation for such a high death toll for these workers.
This is going to lead to a tsunami of vulnerable people with serious dental problems and loss of teeth. Please, please highlight this major problem to the relevant authorities.