Madam, - I am gobsmacked. In today's Irish Times (August 25th) the secretary of the Garda Representative Association, PJ Stone, makes a brave but futile attempt to rescue what he can from the awesome outcome of the Morris Tribunal.
He tells us that the findings of the tribunal have left members of the Garda Síochána feeling isolated and demoralised. So well they might but I am uncertain if he blames Mr Justice Morris or the errant gardaí for this situation. Would Mr Stone share with me how members of a family felt when they were framed for and accused of a murder that never took place, as well as Travellers who had a shotgun planted at their site or the unfortunates arrested after a plant of explosives at a mast.
He states this was confined to Donegal, but there have been other disturbing episodes around the country, and as the gardaí are a national force who move around, then surely it is possible to say that the contamination may have extended elsewhere. Rather than the few rotten apples syndrome, maybe it is more like an infection.
He criticises Garda management, but down the years the GRA have sought pay claims and conditions on the grounds that gardaí take their powers from the law, not their superiors, and often have to act on the spur of the moment in making an arrest for instance. Their word and evidence often will convict a person in court. They are in effect a sole trader to some degree and are paid as such.
In conclusion, how much has the GRA contributed to this malaise? Witness the shameful "blue flu" episode in 1998 when healthy gardaí went sick and drew their pay. Also the hostility to the new Garda Reserve Force which has public backing. - Yours, etc,
BRIAN McCAFFREY, Clifton Crescent, Galway.
Madam, - The response of P J Stone, general secretary of the Garda Representative Association, to the findings of the Morris tribunal seems to be a case of "shoot the messenger". He states that the findings are hurtful to all members of the Garda Siochána.
I would have thought that while the findings may be considered distressing and shocking, the opportunity they provide for the national police force to restore its standing through repairing and healing itself would be a cause of considerable relief, even satisfaction, not an opportunity for cloistered insularity and lamentable melancholy. - Yours, etc,
MYLES DUFFY, Bellevue Avenue, Glenageary, Co Dublin.