Jonny Baxter

A big spin is underway about “the biggest ever reshuffle of senior gardaí” by incoming Garda Commissioner, Noirin O’Sullivan with “nearly 100 senior officers being transferred and promoted” and the Irish Times editorialising about a “bold and brave new start”. So Village  decided to have a look back at incidents of corruption, malfeasance, harassment and intimidation which have significantly compromised the reputation of the Irish police force; and to which she needs to direct herself. The litany involves real or alleged Garda involvement in an extraordinary range of delinquency from supplying drugs to framing for murder to bullying whistleblowers. Most infamously in recent memory, the Garda corruption in Donegal investigated by the Morris Tribunal (2002-2008) involved a sweeping range of crimes including framing a man for murder, illegal phone-tapping and intimidation of witnesses as the Donegal Garda sought to frame Frank McBrearty junior and his cousin Mark McConnell for a murder that they did not commit and, in fact, was not even a murder. Ultimately, the Tribunal found, cattle dealer Richie Barron had probably been killed in a hit and run incident, most likely by a member of the force. Nobody was charged, some gardaí were allowed to retire on full pension and  just three were fired. Morris’s most important recommendation – to set up an independent authority to oversee the force, like Patten’s in the North, was set aside until it was forced back on the political agenda in the wake of the recent Callinan resignation, The Ian Bailey case currently before the courts has aired serious allegations that gardaí considered paying someone in order to frame a man for murder. In 2009, then Justice Minister, Dermot Ahern, declined to explain why the state dropped a case against a presumed Garda informant, Kieran Boylan, caught in possession of €1.7m worth of cocaine and heroin while on bail. The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) informed the courts he would not pursue the case. In May 2013 a Garda Ombudsman investigation into the affair concluded with no evidence established of any improper conduct by gardaí. It was later revealed that gardaí had disrupted the Ombudsman’s investigation. In 2014, the Ombudsman disclosed   there had been a security alert at its office arising from a suspicion that gardaí were bugging the office due to its investigation into this affair. Several international reports found unacceptable levels of violence in the policing of Shell’s installation of a gas terminal at Rossport in Mayo. “There is a sense the law is being used to kick people into submission”, according to local parish priest Fr Michael Nallen. A 2007 human-rights hearing conducted by the US-based Global Community Monitor, was told by Ed Collins, an American-born local resident of how he had “been beaten, assaulted, kicked, choked, punched… kicked and battered since day one”. One alleged Garda assault left him with a knee so badly damaged that for a considerable period he was confined to a wheelchair, unable to walk. Betty Noone told of seeing gardaí drag a woman to the side of a road – “…she tried to get up, and as a third Garda left her… he kicked her”. Noone – a 63 year old grandmother – outlined how she herself was lifted up by a Garda and thrown towards a water-filled drain, perhaps eight feet below the road. John Monaghan, a former Irish Press journalist told of how a Garda had threatened to rape his wife. He has an audio recording – that he says is of this incident. Another recording shows how sergeant James Gill joked about raping two female protesters who had been arrested. But the Garda Ombudsman found that no action could be taken against him as he had retired. He had also exercised his right to silence throughout his questioning and “largely gave a ‘no-comment’ interview” to them. Following the death of Gerry Ryan in 2010, the Irish Independent published allegations that the drug use of high-profile figures was well-known to gardaí. A senior source had told the paper that half the trade of one notorious dealer was going into RTÉ. Despite apparent awareness, gardaí did not act on this information, instead protecting the ongoing supply as it was claimed the dealer was a “valuable intelligence source”. An official response from the gardaí claimed these allegations came from anonymous sources and were not substantiated by facts. Other sources suggested that there was an unwillingness within the force to bring such allegations to light for fear of political reprisals. In 2013 report by Ombudsman for Children Emily Logan found gardaí had been guilty of racial profiling after taking a blonde two-year-old Roma child into care. Also in 2013, a whistleblower emerged alleging numerous incidents of internal fraud with dozens of members of the gardaí accused of falsely claiming subsistence, travel and overtime payments. It appears that all of these claims were made against individuals based at Garda headquarters on Harcourt Street, the home of specialist units such as the Criminal Assets Bureau, National Bureau of Criminal investigation, and the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation.    A chief superintendent was appointed to investigate the claims but no outcomes from the investigation have yet to have been made public. Meanwhile, individual members of the Garda were coming forward with claims of internal harassment and intimidation, to mixed effect. Detective Sergeant Michael Buckley fought his transfer from the Serious Crime Review Team at Harcourt Square to the Stolen Motor Vehicle Investigation Unit. He claims the move was a malicious response to complaints made by him in 2011 against more senior officers who he alleged were the perpetrators of bullying and harassment. His claims were dismissed in 2012 but, following one unsuccessful appeal, he brought another to the High Court which agreed that one should be heard. Gardaí dropped the case in July last year and Buckley remained in his original post. Then, of course, there is the case of Maurice McCabe – another Garda with an apparently good record of service. McCabe was