‘No evidence’ of systemic corruption across the Garda, conference hears

There is no evidence of systemic corruption across the Garda despite the recent controversies that have hit force and such allegations are “regrettable and unfortunate”, the association representing Garda superintendents has said.

General secretary of the Association of Garda Superintendents, Pat McCabe said he and his members accepted mistakes were made and that lessons must be learned from recent controversies.

However, he did not believe the Garda was an organisation where members prized loyalty over truth and honesty, as the Smithwick Tribunal concluded last year.

"I don't believe anybody in the Garda organisation has anything to hide," he said at his association's annual conference in Naas, Co Kildare, this afternoon.

“We have loyal members of the force but I would suggest they are loyal to the people of this country. That’s where their loyalties should and do lie.”

Supt McCabe agreed with the words of interim Garda Commissioner Noirín O'Sullivan who during an address at the Garda College, Templemore, Co Tipperary, last Friday said the force would learn from recent controversies.

These have included how whistleblowers' allegations on the termination of penalty points were dealt with, the Garda's secret recording of telephone calls to and from Garda stations across the State apparently since the 1980s and the no-notice retirement of former garda commissioner Martin Callinan.

Minister for Justice Alan Shatter is due to address delegates at the conference this evening. Commissioner O'Sullivan presided over a questions and answers session from the floor this afternoon, which was closed to the media.

She had no plans to speak to the media this evening, as is traditional of the office holder at such conferences.

Supt McCabe said the Commission of Investigation currently being established by Government would set out the facts on recent events.

However, he felt the Garda was a competent force that was delivering a professional service to the Irish public daily and one not characterised by institutional corruption.

And while it may seem “incredible” that officers of superintendent rank did not know about calls to and from stations being secretly recorded, there was no knowledge of the practice beyond 999 calls, he said.

When asked if his members were angry at the revelation their calls had been recorded, he said the overwhelming feeling was one of surprise.

“Quite clearly the structures were put in place so somebody knew about that. The fact that we weren’t aware of that; there is a lack of communication around it.

“But there is a Commission and we should wait until we have all the facts are on the table and we know exactly what happened.”

When asked if he was surprised by Mr Callinan’s departure the week before last, Supt McCabe said: “Of course, anytime somebody at that level leaves in an unplanned fashion.

“I suppose from my own perspective, I know Martin Callinan for 25 years, worked with him in serious investigations, and I found him always to be a professional and competent member of the Garda organisation.”

He declined to comment on whether Mr Callinan had been the victim of a “political coup” by an under-pressure Government.

However, he welcomed an idea mooted by the Oireachtas Committee on Justice that the Commission of Investigation would fast-track its inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Mr Callinan’s departure from office, with a timeframe of eight weeks suggested.

It is not until that component of the inquiry is completed that people at the centre of the events that led to the shock retirement could be called before the Oireachtas committee to face public questioning.

The issue is contentious because many senior Garda officers and members of the Opposition believe Mr Callinan was effectively forced out of office by the Government in an effort to take pressure off the coalition partners around the whistleblower-penalty points controversy.

Supt McCabe said while Garda members “doubted themselves” after months of sustained controversies with the force at their centre, he believed morale was high and that gardaí were equal to the challenge of any reforms that might come out of the Commission of Investigation.

If an open competition was held to fill the post of garda commissioner on a permanent basis and somebody from outside the Garda was hired, his members would accept that and would work with and support such a candidate, he said.