For the first time in the history of An Garda Síochána, the body representing rank-and-file gardaí has not invited the Garda Commissioner to its conference. Paul Reynolds analyses the implications.
How did this happen?
The Garda Representative Association is the largest garda representative body. It speaks for the vast majority of gardaí and represents over 10,000 rank-and-file gardaí.
Its Central Executive Committee comprises 31 members representing the various garda districts, divisions and specialist units all over the country.
This year it's holding its annual conference in Westport in April and invitations have already been sent out, including to the Minister for Justice.
At its CEC meeting yesterday, the delegates discussed whether or not to invite the Garda Commissioner to the annual conference.
The issue was discussed for over two hours and while some delegates felt Drew Harris should have been invited so that rank-and-file gardaí could address their grievances directly to him, the majority, more than two thirds, voted against inviting him.
As a result, for the first time in the history of the association, rank-and-file gardaí are not inviting the Garda Commissioner to address their annual conference or attend the evening dinner.
Why?
The GRA have a number of issues of grievance; They're not happy with the rosters, they are very aggrieved about the garda’s suspension policy.
They feel not only are too many gardaí being suspended but also that they are being left out of work for years without a hearing or a resolution to the complaints against them.
Many gardaí feel they have done nothing wrong but in some cases they have found themselves on suspension for up to four years.
The decision to suspend for three years a garda who gave an elderly isolated man an unclaimed bicycle and launch a criminal investigation led by specialist detectives from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation is one case that has rankled with them.
Recruitment and retention are also major concerns and while the Commissioner says the numbers leaving the garda are at a low percentage overall, the GRA says they are at an unprecedently high level. 162 gardaí left last year, 22 have resigned so far this year.
The GRA also feels aggrieved at the way they feel they were treated at conference last year. They don’t feel Drew Harris addressed their issues. They don’t feel he listened to their concerns, particularly about training and equipment deficiencies, failings which they say have since been exposed during the Dublin riots.
General Secretary Ronan Slevin said at the time the Commissioner’s comments to them at conference "didn’t help".
GRA President Brendan O’Connor said: "The atmosphere in the room was indicative of the feeling the Commissioner lacked a bit of sensitivity to the strength of feeling on issues, particularly the issue of morale."
But the main reason the delegates decided not to invite the Commissioner is because over 98% of GRA members who voted last September, voted no confidence in Drew Harris as Commissioner.
The CEC felt not only could they not invite someone the majority of members have no confidence in, but also that it would not go down well with the membership if they had invited him.
Implications
There has been no comment from Garda Headquarters or the Policing Authority has not responded to attempts to contact it. The GRA is expected to make a formal statement later today.
However, it is clear that relations are not good between the Commissioner and the largest representative association and have not been for some time.
The GRA was somewhat surprised when the Commissioner was unable to attend its conference in 2021 because he was abroad.
In 2006, the GRA did not invited Michael McDowell when he was Minister for Justice to attend conference but he was invited to the dinner that evening.
However, the strategy pretty much backfired on the association because the newly-elected President declared that garda members would be quote "waiting in the long grass" for Michael McDowell’s party, the Progressive Democrats, come the next election.
The GRA had crossed the line from representation into politics, a place where no serving garda can ever be.
This was a political statement and a political threat, and the gardaí are required to be apolitical, to police without fear or favour. They don’t and never can take sides in politics. They don’t interfere in elections and whoever is elected by the people, they are duty bound to serve.
As a consequence, Michael McDowell arrived down to the hotel in Galway and attracted all the coverage and media from the conference.
He gave interviews all afternoon, lambasting the GRA, threatening dismissal. The then Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy also not only reminded the GRA officers of their statutory obligations as members of the gardaí and warned of disciplinary and more serious consequences.
The GRA retracted its statement and apologised.
That, however, is unlikely to happen this time. Commissioner Harris hasn’t been invited to the evening dinner either, but the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has been invited to conference and the dinner.
