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John O'Brien It's wrong to say rank and file gardaĆ­ have treated Drew Harris unfairly

The retired Detective Chief Superintendent says Harris was just the wrong man for the job of Garda Commissioner, at the wrong time.

THERE ARE SOME who may feel that Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has been treated a tad unfairly in his tenure as the head of the Garda SíochÔna. There are also those who believe he is not the right man for the job. 

I, for one, with respect, am firmly in the latter category. In my many years of policing, I have never known the uniform service of the Garda SƭochƔna to be in such a mess, despite the efforts of many good officers.

The Commissioner bears enormous responsibility for this situation, while the government, of course, has a case to answer as well.

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There are many within theĀ GardaĆ­Ā whoĀ support this opinion. Perception and appearance are very important for internal confidence in the service, and there have been issues around the way in which recruitment has been carried out, for starters. ā€œPride in the uniformā€ is much more than a reflection on the cloth; it is a state of mind, and even the situation where the long-respected GardaĀ BandĀ is beingĀ reduced to a handful of members is a sign of an unwelcome change in direction for our national police service.

There are obvious signs of decline which affect the morale and esprit de corps in the organisation. Self-evidently, discipline is an important consideration in the country’s police service, and that requires inspired leadership, skill and shared values. Consensus building is a two-way street.

Policing model

When the Commissioner was appointed in 2018, he was given a free hand to mould the Force in his own image. It is true that the Commission on the Future Policing (CFP) reported shortly after his appointment, and this Commission made widespread proposals for change.

I use the word change rather than reform advisedly.

The government reluctantly accepted most of the changes, and then basically handed over the policing process to Mr Harris to progress as he saw fit. This led to his formulation of a new Policing Model, ostensibly based on the recommendations of the CFP.

Or at least that’s how it may have appeared, but in fact, there was a wide variance between the recommendations and the implementation policy. I undertook a critical analysis of the Model in 2019, which debunked this alleged connectivity. I provided this analysis widely and to the former Minister for Justice without the benefit of the slightest reaction. It has taken five years for my analysis to be recognised generally.

This Uniform Policing ModelĀ announced by Drew HarrisĀ is a veritable disaster. Simply run the numbers, the matrix by which accurate measurements can be made of success or failure. What is the response time for call requests for Garda assistance? How many uniform patrol hours are performed on a daily or weekly basis? How well equipped are the GardaĆ­ to deal with major disorder? How safe are our streets, roads or towns, particularly after dark?Ā 

The introduction of the policing model in 2019, untested and uncosted, and which, I believe, to all intents and purposes, was a hypothetical model based on assumptions, was to be the cornerstone of policing in Ireland for decades to come. The reality was that it was a failure. A vote of no confidence, suspensions, resignations, strict disciplinary oversight, rostering issues, promotingĀ PSNI officers to senior positions in Garda HQ, reducing the number of districts, expanding divisions, recruitment and retention, these are the issues that the Commissioner will be remembered for.Ā 

Internal discrimination

That was the position in 2020, but now a larger crisis looms with the lack of domestic applicants for the soon-to-be-vacant commissioner role.Ā Homegrown Garda officers have faced barriers in applying for senior positions due to a long-running pension tax issue, creating a perceived two-tier system within the gardaĆ­, permitted by the government.Ā 

No confidence

A no-confidence vote saw 98.7% of GardaĆ­ expressing no confidence in the Commissioner. Industrial relations between the Commissioner and GardaĆ­ have been strained, with Sergeants and Inspectors protesting at Garda HQ.Ā Concerns include resourcing, bureaucracy and the reform programme.Ā 

left-to-right-president-of-gra-brendan-oconnor-and-general-secretary-ronan-slevin-as-they-announce-the-garda-representative-association-gra-outcome-of-a-vote-of-no-confidence-in-commissioner-dr Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Legacy issues

The prevailing political discourse during the Harris tenure has consistently revolved around terms such as ā€œLandmarkā€, ā€œIndependentā€, ā€œReformā€, and ā€œSea Change.ā€ These buzzwords are actively endorsed politically and by the Commissioner.

It must be acknowledged that Drew Harris brought with him extensive policing experience from Northern Ireland, having served throughout a career shaped by the challenges of The Troubles. Given that background, many wondered what Harris would make of his pre-existing information when he came to serve the Irish State. He made it clear during an exchange at the DÔil Justice Committee meeting on 13 February 2019 in his early days, that any information which he had in relation to the murder of farmer Tom Oliver now belonged to the Chief Constable of the PSNI. This stance did nothing to quell the unease among the ranks of the gardaí about an ex-PSNI officer who had worked closely with MI5 now heading up the police force of the Republic. 

There was an attempt by the chairperson of the Policing Authority to classify his appointment in the south as being like the movement of any other professional over country boundaries. I rejected this approach at the time, and I reject it today. That whole proposition was too ludicrous for words. Policing is not the same as other corporate endeavours.Ā 

I am sorry to say my view on An Garda SĆ­ochĆ”na in the Harris years has not changed. The Irish people have not been best served in this time and by this approach, and one hopes that the next phase for the GardaĆ­ is a better one. That is the question now… have any lessons been learned and could the future be different?

John O’Brien is a retired Detective Chief Superintendent, in An Garda SĆ­ochĆ”na. He is formerly the head of the International Liaison Protection section in Garda HQ, National Head of Interpol and Europol. He is the author of four books, A Question of Honour, Politics and Policing (2020) and Securing the Irish State (2022). The Troubles Come South 2023, The Great Deception 2024.

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