Sir, - Deputy Jim Mitchell has complained that gardai on duty at Dail Eireann do not show enough respect to the members generally and, in particular, to Ministers (Quidnunc, February 26th).
Apparently the service and appearance of gardai around the House is much less than one would expect in Houses of Parliament and much less than one would get elsewhere. Deputy Conor Lenihan urged the gardai to copy the Defence Forces.
Speaking from experience, duties in or near Houses of Parliament are incredibly boring, an appalling waste of police time, not in any way what police officers are trained to do, and the vast majority of officers avoid them like the plague.
Police officers cannot be compared with soldiers in any way where their duties are concerned. Soldiers have no authority whatsoever over Ministers and TDs whereas gardai most certainly have and, from time to time, have occasion to arrest some of them, much to their chagrin no doubt.
All Dail members, however important they may be, are not and cannot ever be above the law and, of course, our gardai are the guardians of that law and hopefully will continue to be so. They must never "tug the forelock" to any man, anywhere, any time and, in fact, have taken a solemn oath not to do so. Respect is something people in power have to earn and they cannot do so by trying to demean the status of our national police service. Only dictators adopt such practices. - Yours, etc.,
W. G. A. Scott, Friars Hill, Wicklow.