Enough is enough

Gardaí have threatened to withdraw co-operation from the policing operation for Ireland’s EU presidency unless there are discussions about their grievances.

Members at the annual Garda Representative Association (GRA) delegate conference passed a motion which stated that they would withdraw from planning meetings for the upcoming presidency.

Donegal garda and former GRA president Brendan O’Connor warned management: ‘Take your foot off our throats. Enough is enough. We’re not being unreasonable. We’re not demanding anything. We’re asking for the attacks on us to stop.’

The motion that was passed calls for discussion on ‘subsistence and travel rates, ongoing attempts to reduce injury on duty entitlements, and an agreed suspension policy reflecting input and consultation with the association’.

The GRA claims that gardaí are having injury-on-duty payments reduced and says travel and subsidence rates for duty away from home are insufficient.

It also insisted that the suspension policy is leaving officers ‘languishing’ for years.

Garda O’Connor said:

‘There’s a general frustration among our members, and a feeling that their terms and conditions are under constant erosion.

‘And what is on the horizon is, again, another major event where our members will be asked to mobilise in large numbers, leave their families, travel long distances. What they’re saying is we need a bit of clarity around our terms and conditions that facilitate the policing of those events.

‘They’re saying don’t take our flexibility for granted, because our flexibility and our commitment has not been reciprocated.’

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The GRA also took aim at the operating policing model, which was introduced in 2019. The new operating model includes restructuring at national, regional, and divisional levels to enable improved delivery of community policing according to local needs.

Dublin Metropolitan Region West rep, Detective Mark Ferris, said: ‘The current Garda Operating Model just isn’t working as intended…. We’re still swamped in paperwork and legal processes.’