Army bullying `unacceptable'

The Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, Lieut Gen Colm Mangan, has said he is "extremely concerned" at recent reports about "widespread harassment of females in the Defence Forces".

In a message on the front page of Connect, the Defence Forces' monthly newsletter, he said he had invited the author of the thesis that gave rise to the reports to discuss his findings.

"Harassment or bullying of any kind within the Defence Forces is entirely unacceptable and will not be tolerated," he said. He had already decided a review group was to be set up to examine the issues it raised.

"There will be no question of any whitewash or cover-up - my aim is to uncover the nature and extent of the problem and to identify intervention measures to deal with it," he said.

In the interim, he emphasised the policy guidelines on interpersonal relations and the procedures for processing complaints found in the Defence Forces A7 Administrative Instruction.

"If anybody feels they have been harassed, bullied or abused, I urge them to bring forward their complaint," he said.

Work was taking place on a Bill to introduce an ombudsman for the Defence Forces, he said, and he urged commanders at all levels to ensure there was no sexual harassment or bullying.

He reminded the commanders that failure to do so would be considered "a dereliction of duty".