A former garda whose ex-husband was convicted of assaulting her has said she has had a lot of contact from female gardaí who are experiencing issues inside the organisation with regards to some of the problems she has highlighted.
Margaret Loftus is to address the Oireachtas on her experience later today and is also due to meet the Minister for Justice.
Her ex-husband Trevor Bolger, also a garda, is currently suspended from the force.
He was convicted of an assault offence, after more serious charges of threats to kill and coercion were dropped following a plea agreement and was last month given a three-month suspended sentence.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Ms Loftus said she was silenced for the last 14 years but her case becoming public has resulted in a lot of people contacting her.
"The amount of messages I've received ... has made me realise the absolute extent to which it [domestic violence] flourishes through our systems and my own experience of the judicial system is certainly not unique either to me."
Ms Loftus explained how she had to email her own witness statement to the Garda Commissioner in 2018, because her ex-husband had been given "the heads up" and told what was going to happen in previous attempts to report what had happened.
She said that despite the case being brought before the courts 58 times and he was charged with threats to kill and coercion, he was "actually appointed within the ranks and he was given a State issued firearm".
She added that the same organisation which was investigating her ex-husband for threatening to kill her, was "the same organisation that was arming him", something she said she plans to discuss with Minister Jim O'Callaghan.
Ms Loftus said she has been contacted by a number of female gardaí who are in or have been in relationships with members of An Garda Siochana, "who are experiencing a lot of issues inside the organisation with regards to some of the problems I've already highlighted...which has not previously been addressed in any type of forum".
She said she wants to discuss a range of issues with Minister O'Callaghan, including the in-camera rule and the Protected Disclosures Act "which is null and void if there's a criminal case in tandem with that".
Ms Loftus said that she is gone past wanting an apology.
She said she does not believe an apology "is going to do anything for me or anyone coming behind me".
"I suppose to see a measurable, actionable response would be the best apology that I could get here," she said.
