Morris report officers' futures under scrutiny
The Government and Garda Commissioner will urgently examine the future of officers implicated in the latest damning Morris Tribunal report, Finance Minister Brian Cowen said today.
Judge Frederick Morris’s inquiry into the 1996 death of Donegal cattle dealer Richie Barron found the garda investigation was “prejudiced, tendentious and utterly negligent in the highest degree”.
As senior officers said they fully accepted the findings of yesterday’s report, Mr Cowen, who was deputising for Taoiseach Bertie Ahern in the Dáil, described the publication as “very disturbing, deeply troubling and shocking”.
He said the Government and the Justice Minister took the most serious view of the second report.
“The Minister for Justice and the Government accept the findings of the report and will act on it,” he said.
“The Government and the Commissioner will now urgently examine the implications of the findings of this report for individual officers.”
The Morris report strongly criticised at least 10 gardaí and detailed a trail of mistakes and lies committed by officers which prevented the investigation reaching a successful conclusion.
The judge found that gardaí were “consumed” with the idea that publican Frank McBrearty Jnr and his cousin Mark McConnell were guilty of the murder of Mr Barron and tried to frame them.
A debate on the first and second interim reports will be held in the Dail and Seanad later this month.
After last summer’s first report, Superintendent Kevin Lennon was sacked while another superintendent and a chief superintendent retired.
The Garda Commissioner also dismissed a number of gardaí.
Mr Cowen added that substantial reforms were contained in the Garda Siochana Bill, including an independent Ombudsman Commission to investigate complaints and an Inspectorate to report on the effectiveness of the force.
A special committee, headed by Senator Maurice Hayes will oversee the implementation of the Bill when enacted.
The Commissioner will also soon unveil a comprehensive package of management reform within the force, Mr Cowen said.
The minister added: “We’ve all been let down badly by the behaviour of a number of gardai in Donegal. The vast majority of men and women in the Garda Siochana who give loyal and dedicated service will be shocked and disappointed.
“It is difficult to overstate the disservice done to the ordinary decent gardai by the shocking misconduct outlined in this report.”
Mr McDowell will give his full response to the report when the debate takes place later this month.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said the report raised fundamental issues about individual garda officers, garda management and political responses to the allegations.
He called on Mr McDowell and his predecessor John O’Donoghue to say why they refused public inquiries and ongoing legal aid to the McBrearty family.
Mr Kenny paid tribute to politicians Jim Higgins and Brendan Howlin who stood up against a “ferocious onslaught” to pursue the truth through Dail questions on the matter.
“The integrity of the force should be beyond question and it should have the trust of the country. It’s a shame that the Morris report points clearly at a rottenness at its core,” he said.
“Sadly, this report diminishes all those who have given outstanding service and public duty to the country.”
Labour leader Pat Rabbitte claimed that Mr McDowell had “opposed tooth and nail” the set-up of the Morris Tribunal in the Dáil.
He recalled that Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy had recently described the Barron investigation as “thorough and efficient”.
“That kind of thing should profoundly disturb this House,” he added.
He called for a Patten-style Commission to examine policing in the Republic.
“Unaccountable power is a very dangerous thing and there is nothing in the Garda Siochana Bill that will address that,” he concluded.
Green Party chairman John Gormley said that Mr McBrearty, who spoke at the party’s recent conference, was “ruthlessy and viciously framed by the gardai”.
“Their [McBrearty family] lives were made a hell. If it were not for the tenacity of the McBrearty family or Jim Higgins or Brendan Howlin, these issues would never have come to light,” he said.
“Mr McDowell has successfully spun his way through his ministry and some people believe he is doing a good job. I don’t believe he is doing a good job.”
Sinn Féin TD Martin Ferris said the Morris findings were shocking but not surprising and reiterated his party’s calls for a probe into the death of former Donegal councillor Eddie Fullerton.
The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors said many of its members were dismayed by the web of deceit, negligence and human tragedy uncovered by the Tribunal.
AGSI general secretary Pat Flynn said the findings had been fully accepted and that senior officers were digesting the shocking details.
“We welcome the Morris Tribunal report and feel that it is a report that could do An Garda Siochana a lot of good in the long term if proper measures are taken to ensure that these sort of mistakes don’t happen again,” Mr Flynn said.
He said the AGSI had put itself forward to garda management and the Justice Minister to work together to ensure scandals which swamped the Donegal division in the 1990s could not be repeated.
“It is down to the Association in conjunction with garda management and the minister to try to ensure that this type of incident does not happen again,” he said.
The report is due to be discussed at the AGSI executive meeting next week.
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