Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar said that if gardaí were to strike, they would “change their relationship with the public forever”. He said that “Whatever they may get for a day on strike, I think they will fundamentally change their relationship with the public who will see it as a carte blanche to break the law and I really hope they don’t cross that Rubicon because it’s not in their interest to do so”.
This is fairly rich coming from a guy that has been part of a system that has brought An Garda Siochana to where it is today, perilously close to rock bottom. A lack of foresight and a refusal to invest in manpower, equipment and other resources over the years is the simple reason for that. Now the gardai have decided that enough is enough and it is truly remarkable that Leo and his colleagues didn’t see it coming.
Another colleague of Leo, Dublin Fingal deputy Alan Farrell hit out at Ireland’s “Victorian network” of more than 560 garda stations saying: “We don’t need anything near that”. He said that in his opinion Ireland’s “Victorian network” has “absolutely no space in our policing plans in terms of the maintenance and upkeep of x number of hundred stations across this State when we don’t need anything near that”. He didn’t see the sense in having guards tied up minding small stations which is why they closed 139 of them.
If he had taken the time to do some simple investigating he could easily have discovered that policing in Ireland is uniquely community based and is the envy of other police forces in many jurisdictions around the world. I know this to be a fact because I have addressed many of them in my time. They could also have easily discovered that these small stations provide a hugely important part of rural community life and play a vital role in reducing the fear of crime in those areas. Typically these stations are only open for short periods, usually for a couple of hours in the morning, and the members there spend the rest of their time working among those same communities.
Frances Fitzgerald, Minister for Justice, decided that closing garda stations was a great strategy and she tried to convince everyone that the community would be better served by this stroke of genius. She was supported in this ruse by Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan who has recently spent several days at a US policing conference where she was a key-note speaker. She was accompanied by her husband that she recently promoted to the rank of Chief Superintendent.
What nuggets of advice Noirin had for the Americans is unclear to me but if they take any notice of her, Frances Fitzgerald, Leo or Alan then I would suggest that they prepare to man the lifeboats.
And they wonder why the gardai are threatening to go on strike. You really couldn’t make this stuff up.