CLAIMS by the Garda Representative Association that a new £2 million communications system at Garda headquarters in Cork was ineffective and putting lives at risk were rejected yesterday as "mischievous" by senior gardai in the city.
At a news conference in Cork, Chief Supt Adrian Culligan said, that members of the GRA had been fully briefed on the new communications system last January, and had left the meeting apparently happy that the equipment installed was state of the art technology.
By subsequently going public and condemning the system, he added, unnecessary fears had been aroused, particularly among elderly people living alone. The impression had been created, Chief Supt Culligan said, that if an elderly person was in trouble a passing garda would not be able to give assistance because of difficulties in getting a message to him. That impression, he went on, was false and mischievous, and Garda management was at a loss to understand why it had been created in the first place.
Chief Supt Culligan said that the system, engineered by Motorola, was the first of its kind in the Republic and represented a new generation of Garda communications. It enabled gardai operating in different patrol groups to remain in touch with one another through central control, and also to maintain communications with patrol cars and motor cycles.
In the event of a serious incident, the control room could "patch" the various patrol groups together, giving open communications between all members on duty. Gardai on the beat also had "panic buttons" on their hand held systems which alerted both central control and their colleagues.
Unlike the system previously used, the new one was scrambled, giving complete security to the operators. He added that while some gardai had found that voice quality on the scrambled system was slightly "mechanical" this difficulty was easily overcome once the users had familiarised themselves with the system.
Last week, the GRA claimed the system prevented a garda in one operational area from communicating with a colleague in another, and that poor voice quality made it difficult to understand messages. This amounted to putting lives at risk, a spokesman claimed.
"Such claims are very mischievous. People are apprehensive enough without further fears being raised. At all stages during the introduction of the system, gardai from all ranks were consulted, and the system was fully explained. The criticism is regrettable and misguided," Chief Supt Culligan said, adding that there were internal problems at management level with the GRA.
Last night, the general secretary of the GRA, Mr John Ferry, rejected suggestions that his members had been "mischievous" in making their claims about the new Cork system. The GRA was concerned about the welfare and safety of its membership, he added, and gardai on the beat were deeply worried about the lack of communication between mobile and foot patrols.