THE internal Garda representative dispute has cost gardai themselves an estimated £700,000, with the potential for as much again to be lost in legal and other costs, it has been learned.
A motion before last week's central executive meeting of the Garda Representative Association (GRA) reported that accumulated losses as a result of the dispute are "in excess of £700,000 ", according to an agenda document seen by the Irish Times.
The Carlow Kildare division pointed out that the losses resulted from "reduced subscriptions, aborted conferences, the cost of legal and professional advice directly associated with the dispute and the additional cost of printing, posting and stationer.
It is believed the bulk of the spending has been on legal and public relations consultancy fees. There have been several legal actions and the GRA retained the services of two public relations consultants, Drury Communications and Mr RJ. Mara.
The 1994 annual conference was called off after it was picketed by dissident members, and a special delegate conference was held last year in Limerick. The last annual conference was guarded by a private security firm, apparently in case any further disruptions were attempted.
The breakaway Garda Federation has also accumulated heavy losses as a result of the dispute. It lost a court case against the GRA and had costs awarded against a number of its members. The Government loaned the Federation £90,000 to meet the costs, but repayment is now being sought.
There could be further heavy legal bills in the coming year. The GRA is being sued by three former members for alleged defamation and there may be a legal challenge to any Government attempt to legislate for an entirely new representative association.
All the costs are being met from the weekly £2.50 subscriptions of the force's 8,600 members of garda rank. The GRA has considerable cash reserves, it is understood, and recently spent more than £200,000 refurbishing its: headquarters offices at Phibsboro, Tower, Dublin. The federation, which has around 2,500 members in Dublin, has little reserve cash, it is understood.
The motion before the GRA executive meeting by the Carlow Kildare Division advocated talks with "dissident" and "disaffected" members "to try and bring an end (to) the ongoing feuding in an honourable and amicable fashion for all, where every member of garda rank can feel happy to associate under one united umbrella for the betterment of all our colleagues.
Last week, the GRA advocated direct talks with the federation after it withdrew from secret, informal talks set up by the former GRA general secretary, Mr Jack Marrinan.