Any suspicion of a system that operates other than a meritocracy is inevitably going to affect morale. And right now, morale in An Garda Síochána is on the floor.

In such a milieu, one might think that the body representing rank-and-file members would not just lobby for a merit-based system of advancement but lead by example.

Instead, as revealed today on this website, and in the Irish Examiner, the Garda Representative Association (GRA) itself appears to be one of the few last bastions of “jobs for the boys” — and not just any boys.

Twice in the last couple of years, the governing body of the GRA has rejected the candidate selected by a professional process to fill an executive role in the organisation.

No logical reason was given on either occasion. Indeed no reason was given or had to be given by those who voted against ratification. Both times, those voting on whether to accept or reject the candidate deemed most suitable included other candidates who had been unsuccessful.

At no point did the defeated candidates express a potential conflict of interest or offer to recuse themselves from the vote.

The manner in which the whole thing unfolded gives the impression that the top table of the GRA is living in the past and out of step with its members.

Professional process...

Last February, the association advertised to fill the position of general secretary, effectively the CEO, charged with representing nearly 12,000 gardaí of ordinary rank. The position came with a stipend in the region of €150,000.

For such an important role, Lansdowne Executive Search, a well-known professional recruitment body, was retained. The fee for such a job would be in the region of €40,000-€50,000. Each garda contributes 0.6% of their salary to fund the GRA.

The leading candidates for the job included four members of the GRA's governing body, the central executive council (CEC), and a fifth who, until that time, had been a long-standing member.

This unwieldy forum has 31 members, made up of a president, chair, secretary, and representatives from the various garda divisions and districts around the country. Only two of the members are female, despite female members constituting 27% of An Garda Síochána.

After a series of interviews and a psychometric test, it was deemed that the most suitable candidate was Garda Damien McCarthy.

Damien McCarthy 

He had a long involvement in the GRA, including a term as president over 10 years ago. He was known among the membership and recognisable generally for media appearances on behalf of the GRA. 

Ordinarily, being selected as the most suitable candidate might mean that the job is practically in the bag. Not with the GRA. Merit as defined by a recruitment process is all very well, but the successful candidate must also be ratified by both the CEC and a delegate conference.

The first hurdle is the CEC where two-thirds of the votes must be in favour of ratifying the appointment.

This process is further complicated by the fact that some members from the bigger divisions have two votes. In total, there are 42 votes up for grabs.

Last March, the vote to ratify Mr McCarthy as the new general secretary failed to reach the two-thirds threshold.

He received just over half the votes, which was not enough.

No reason was given by those who voted against ratification. A spokesperson for the GRA said it would be unreasonable to ask what reasons were given by those who didn’t ratify.

“Each CEC member cast their vote as is their entitlement and it would not be appropriate to ask/quiz each individual member their reason for the choice they made.”

It is unclear whether or not the defeated candidates voted for ratification but none expressed a potential conflict of interest or recused themselves. Following the vote a proposal was put forward to appoint an “interim” general secretary, but this was delayed pending legal advice.

A new process was put in place to go again in an attempt to make the appointment. Two members of the CEC were delegated to form an interview panel with a third independent member of the panel. Following that process, the acting deputy general secretary, Ronan Slevin, was selected as the preferred candidate.

The Irish Examiner understands that Damien McCarthy didn’t put his name forward for the second process.

One source on the CEC says it would have been a surprise if he had: 

“They knocked him back once, what would there be to stop them doing it a second time. It’s a crazy way of doing things and you’d wonder whether the members are aware of what’s going on behind closed doors supposedly on their behalf.

When contacted, Damien McCarthy said he had nothing to say on the matter at this point. He has since taken up a new role within An Garda Siochána based in garda headquarters.

Tara McManus

The whole matter would be bad enough if it was a once-off, but nearly the exact same thing happened a few years ago to another garda, Tara McManus.

She went for the job of assistant to the general secretary, one of just three executive roles within the GRA.

No female had previously been appointed to an executive role in the organisation.

She was selected after the professional process — for which also tens of thousands of euro were shelled out — but was rejected by the CEC, winning a majority of votes but failing to meet the two-thirds threshold, voting for which was by secret ballot.

One member of the interview panel which had selected Garda McManus wrote to the then general secretary saying that when ordinary members heard what had occurred there had been “extreme anger and frustration”.

The job was advertised again, and once again Ms McManus was the chosen candidate. By then she had initiated a legal action against the GRA based on her rejection the first time around.

This time, the CEC vote again failed to reach the two-thirds threshold for ratification. The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) heard that at this meeting, one of the CEC members was recorded as saying: 

“This is a shitshow. We have to move forward. This vote will bury the association. I voted for the sole reason she is suing the association… and you can tell her that.”

That comment, the WRC ruled, indicated discrimination and the commission ordered that Ms McManus be appointed to the role for which she had applied.

The comment on “burying the association” is understood to have referenced the cost that could incur if a High Court action was taken by Ms McManus.

All of that would have to be funded from the GRA’s general coffers, made up of ordinary members’ contributions.

'Dysfunction' in the GRA

Members of the CEC have expressed frustration to the Irish Examiner that a minority of their colleagues have the capacity to dictate and frustrate appointments which had been deemed professionally to be the most suitable.

In 2017, the GRA commissioned a report from consultants Ampersand to examine how it operated.

The report found that “there is significant dysfunction in how the elected leadership body functions. The dysfunctional behaviours are seriously disturbing the lower levels of the organisation and affecting its representative effectiveness”.

It noted that the previous year, €1.46m, representing nearly half of all the GRA’s income, was spent on travel and subsistence. Two-thirds of that amount went on the CEC.

By those sums, the 31 members on the CEC pulled in an average of €25,000 in travel and expenses. Ampersand made a number of recommendations, including a cull of the sub-committees of the CEC, which added greatly to the travel and subsistence bill.

When asked whether the recommendations on rationalising sub-committees have been complied with, the GRA spokesperson said that the Ampersand report was “duly debated and discussed and all recommendations passed at that year’s special delegate conference were actioned and progressed”.

He added that expenses are paid at civil servant rates and subject to intense scrutiny through an independent accountant.