A determination to improve management standards within the Garda and challenge resistance to external oversight should form the initial agenda for new Garda Commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan. Ineffective structures and improper work practices were clinically exposed by Garda Inspectorate reports dealing with penalty points and crime statistics. A once in a generation opportunity now exists to put things right and to create a world-quality police force. But, as Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald warned, without a change in Garda attitudes and co-operation between relevant agencies, new legislation and protocols will have little effect.
The appointment of Ms O’Sullivan to fill this position will have disappointed those who believed an outside candidate would have provided greater impetus and a new perspective. But Ms O’Sullivan has the advantage of knowing the strengths and weaknesses of senior Garda managers and where resistance to change is most deeply embedded. Critically, she represents the choice of an independent interview panel and her promotion marks a departure from intensive political interference.
Garda culture may eventually eat reform for breakfast, but the best hope for change lies in open-eyed, committed leadership. * Ms O’Sullivan will need the support of senior colleagues to change that situation, while rank-and-file gardaí must also be engaged.
She inherits a mammoth task. Resentment over the activities of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission continues to fester. Reforms advocated by the Garda Inspectorate are required. The involvement of a community-based Garda Authority will have to be accommodated. An independent report dealing with hundreds of allegations of Garda misconduct – quite separate from those being investigated by the GSOC – is likely to cause further reputational damage.
Improper Garda behaviour is a prime concern. While the GSOC was established to improve Garda accountability and relations with the public, it is widely regarded as the enemy. A proposal to give it powers of surveillance in legislation led to a suggestion that Garda lives might be put at risk by “spies hired by GSOC”. Resistance to oversight can, with sensitivity, be managed. But the controversies that engulfed the Government, the Department of Justice and the Garda Síochána have caused considerable damage to morale. That became evident when senior officials at the Department of Justice declined to apply for the position of secretary general. Ms O’Sullivan’s appointment represents the first step in a programme of reform that will require the active co-operation of all concerned.
*This article was edited at 1pm on Thursday, November 27th, 2014