The Garda Representative Association has accused Minister for Justice Helen McEntee of not understanding the issues affecting rank-and-file gardaí.
Minister McEntee has announced she will not attend the annual conference of the GRA because Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has not been invited.
Ms McEntee says she engaged with the GRA and asked them to reconsider, and that it would not now be appropriate to attend and would undermine the office of the Garda Commissioner.
She wrote to the association, which represents over 11,000 rank-and-file gardaí, to inform it of her decision to decline the invitation.
The association has described the minister's decision as "extremely disappointing" and said it was "a show of solidarity and support for the Garda Commissioner".
It said her decision has the potential to "blur the lines of separation between the Houses of the Oireachtas and senior garda management", which it said was a "key element in any democracy to ensure the independence and legitimacy of policing".
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, GRA President Brendan O'Connor said the GRA was "disappointed and confused" by Ms McEntee's decision.
He said he understands the close working relationship between the Garda Commissioner and the Minister for Justice, but he said there should be a "degree of separation" between the GRA and that relationship.
He said he did not believe the GRA's disagreement should affect the minister's decision to attend.
"The minister has made it personal by showing that her presence is preconditioned on us [GRA] having a better relationship with the commissioner," he said.
He said the decision not to attend was "at odds" with a message from Taoiseach Simon Harris that he "wants to get behind gardaí" and that Ms McEntee was choosing not to use an opportunity to communicate with frontline members.
"It is at odds with a message that he wants to get behind the gallery," Mr O'Connor said.
"It's well documented the issues that we've had in recent times have been issues of huge concern to the public, like the Dublin riots when gardaí were almost reluctant to use force amid stringent oversight.
"The Taoiseach of the day has said that he wants to send a strong message that he's behind frontline members.
"But now the minister with direct responsibility, who has the opportunity to communicate with those people and deliver that message, is choosing not to do so."
Mr O'Connor said the association would not reconsider its decision to invited the commissioner to its conference.
Read more:
A first in GRA's history as Commissioner not invited to conference
The GRA annual conference begins in Mayo on Tuesday.
Ms McEntee is however due to attend the Prison Officers Conference in Sligo two days later, on Thursday of next week, after accepting that invitation.
The association said trust had broken down between them and Mr Harris and accused the him of creating "an overarching atmosphere of fear... by the overzealous application of discipline and oversight" which is impacting the ability of gardaí to do their job with confidence.
The association said at the time in light of the fact that over 98% of its members who voted declared no confidence in Commissioner Harris, it "could not maintain credibility" if it afforded him an opportunity to articulate a management message.
It also said that morale in An Garda Síochána was "in tatters".
It is the first time any garda association has declined to invite the Garda Commissioner to its annual conference.
Minister McEntee described it as "a personalisation" of the issues between them, which she regretted.
She said she had engaged with the GRA in recent weeks and asked them to reconsider inviting Mr Harris, but the GRA declined.
She said she has now made the decision that "it would not be appropriate to attend the conference" and that "attendance would undermine the office of the Garda Commissioner."
Ms McEntee also said she will continue to engage with the GRA and that she is absolutely committed to making progress on the issues facing the men and women of An Garda Síochána and to working with the Commissioner and representative groups to deliver a number of important reforms.
Morale 'is on the floor'
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín has accused Minister McEntee of "snubbing" the GRA conference.
He told the Dáil that this has "crystalised the dysfunction at the top of the criminal justice system".
The deputy said that he has been told that "the force is being run like a dictatorship", and that garda morale "is on the floor".
"There's a whole background to that situation - it's not a snub," Tánaiste Micheál Martin SAID IN response.
"I don't see why, generally speaking, a Garda Commissioner shouldn't be invited. Let's get back to normal," Mr Martin added.
He said that people should "always engage".
"The common courtesies of life should always apply, in my view."
In relation to An Garda Síochána, the Tánaiste also said that "everything isn't on the floor, everything isn't disastrous".
McEntee 'correct' not to attend
Former minister for justice Dermot Ahern said the decision not to invite the Garda Commissioner was "not a good move".
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne, Mr Ahern said the public want to see the gardaí and the commissioner working hand-in-hand.
He believes it was the correct decision by Minister McEntee not to attend, given that her "direct line was not invited".
It was an invidious position for the current minister, Mr Ahern said.
Mr Ahern did not attend the GRA conference in 2010 because he believed the speech that was due to be delivered was "overtly political", and his position on the matter was agreed by the Cabinet at the time.
Speaking on the same programme, Sinn Féin's Justice Spokesperson Pa Daly said Minister McEntee should attend the conference.
Deputy Daly said the absence of the minister would be an example of the "hollowness" of Fine Gael's promise to reduce crime.
He said Ms McEntee should show a willingness to iron out problems between the GRA and the commissioner by "sitting down with both sides".
"I don't think it's too late. I think that she should be sitting down or her officials should be sitting down with all sides and trying to work on it," he said.
"It is a serious problem. People don't want to see squabbling and it's just unfortunate that has not come to this.
"It is the Minister's problem, who has been saying that Dublin is safe and clearly that it wasn't safe.
"The whole context of this recently is Fine Gael and the Government are saying they will be tough on crime, that they are going to stand with the guards, and then they're refusing to go to the conference."
