GARDA COMMISSIONER Fachtna Murphy has told leading officials from the Garda Representative Association (GRA) not to attack the Government or engage in political debate.
GRA general secretary PJ Stone and new president Damien McCarthy were called to a meeting in Mr Murphy’s offices yesterday after a planned attack on the Government at the GRA annual conference in Limerick city this week.
The association’s outgoing president Michael O’Boyce prepared a speech for conference in which he accused the Government of being corrupt, adding Fianna Fáil had been “bought” by developers and bankers.
As a result, Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern refused to attend the GRA conference and withdrew his officials.
Mr Murphy and assistant commissioner Fintan Fanning, who is in charge of human resources across the force, met Mr Stone and Mr McCarthy for an hour yesterday at Garda headquarters in Phoenix Park, Dublin.
A brief statement issued from Garda headquarters said Mr Murphy had reiterated his views of earlier this week about the GRA, or any garda, getting involved in political debate.
Mr Murphy reminded the men that when they joined the force they took an oath to be apolitical and were bound to police in a neutral and impartial way.
The statement said Mr Murphy looked forward to a constructive working relationship with Mr Stone and Mr McCarthy.
Mr Ahern has said he would not be taking disciplinary action against Mr O’Boyce because his two-year term as GRA president expired after the conference ended on Wednesday.
When a copy of Mr O’Boyce’s speech was given to Mr Ahern ahead of the conference, and the GRA refused to tone down some of the content, Mr Ahern decided not to attend.
Mr O’Boyce then decided not to deliver the speech saying he would not criticise Mr Ahern if he was not there to defend himself. Yet copies of the speech had already been distributed to the media and some had published the remarks.
Mr Ahern issued a statement criticising the GRA for the “unprecedented political intervention by a Garda representative”.
He later said gardaí were bound by law to keep out of political debate and that the GRA owed the people of Ireland an apology. He rejected the GRA’s allegations and said he did not believe Mr O’Boyce’s views were shared by many of the association’s almost 11,500 members.
However, when it was announced at the conference that Mr Ahern had withdrawn, delegates gave a long round of applause and later there was a standing ovation for Mr O’Boyce.
After being voted as GRA president Mr McCarthy gave interviews in which he backed Mr O’Boyce’s comments.