GRA Conference 2025

President Mark O’Meara’s Address to Annual Delegate Conference 2025 

Delegates, Fraternal Delegates, Invited Guests, Good Afternoon,

We find ourselves in an unprecedented position, where our well-voiced lack of confidence in the Office of the Garda Commissioner has continued without change. It is exacerbated by the continued lack of progress by Garda management. Many of the issues that gave rise to our anger and frustration still remain unresolved and without redress.

We have had a change of Minister for Justice and soon a change of Garda Commissioner. The legacy left behind by our outgoing Commissioner must be addressed, and the same mistakes cannot be allowed to take place again under his successor.

Civil rights campaigner Rita Mae Brown once said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different outcome.” To permit this previous unsatisfactory management style of policing to continue would be exactly that—insanity.

Autocratic leadership, surrounded by a perceived transformative leadership team, has not worked. Real and transformative leaders bring their employees—the members of Garda rank—with them.

Looking back over the last eight years, current Garda management has failed astonishingly in this, one of their primary roles and responsibilities, even after their failings were highlighted, well-articulated, and proven by 98.7% of their employees. Instead, it has been denied with seeming contempt—contempt for us, the men and women of Garda rank.

We are Gardaí. Today, we speak not with hesitation, but with absolute clarity—not just as members of An Garda Síochána, but as public servants and professionals, who have dedicated ourselves and our careers to the security of this country and the safety and well-being of every citizen.

We have long been identified as a unique group of state employees. That we are—and this uniqueness comes at a price. But that price should not, and cannot, be borne solely by us, the rank-and-file members of An Garda Síochána.

We are Gardaí. We entered this profession to uphold the law, to protect communities, and to serve the Irish people with integrity, dedication, and accountability. And yet, while we are expected to be the cornerstone of public order, the very system we serve has become indifferent—if not outright obstructive—to our welfare and our voice.

Garda management continues to make critical decisions about our working conditions without genuine and meaningful consultation. Operational demands rise, but resources do not mirror or reflect that demand. Morale drops, yet support remains tokenistic.

Garda management has become totally disconnected—issuing directives from behind desks, while frontline members face abuse, burnout, and suffocation under unbearable and unthinkable pressure. Our senior leadership team talks about “duty” while ignoring our basic rights and entitlements. They demand discipline, while they themselves deliver dysfunction. Our silence in the face of their dysfunction is no longer an option.

We are Gardaí. We are sent out, shift after shift, into increasingly complex and dangerous situations, in an ever-changing, multicultural society. But when we ask for fair recognition or reasonable working conditions, we are told to be quiet and are expected to simply get on with it.

Given the chronic lack of resources within An Garda Síochána—outdated equipment, online modular updates, and the mass exodus of our personnel—the goodwill shown by our members is threadbare and faltering. An Garda Síochána is in trouble. The treatment of our members by our senior leadership team and the Department of Justice is nothing short of disgraceful—and this has not gone unnoticed by the public we serve.

And our government? It is long past time that the Department of Justice and our political leaders stop using Gardaí as political footballs. We are tired of lip service. We are tired of empty election promises and commitments that never materialise. We are tired of being left out of the very conversations that shape our lives and livelihoods.

The message to us is very clear: “Do your job, but don’t ask for fair pay or pensions, don’t question deteriorating conditions of service, and above all, don’t expect a real seat at the table.”

Well, that’s not good enough. Not anymore. It’s time to take a stand against our draconian senior leadership team and the Department of Justice, who are treating the heartbeat of Irish society—our men and women of An Garda Síochána—like second-class citizens. We have had enough.

We are Gardaí. We are demanding real engagement and commitment on pay, pensions, and working conditions—not just during election season, but all year round, every year.

We are demanding a full and immediate restoration of allowances cut under austerity, and restoration of occupational supplementary pension entitlements to all members of An Garda Síochána to help improve recruitment and retention. We demand a national staffing overhaul—not just empty recruitment drives that fill headlines but fail to fill Garda stations.

We want safe and sustainable staffing levels across the country—not just in Dublin or urban centres, but nationwide.

We want mental health supports that are properly resourced, not just promised, and provided without restriction, to end the demeaning process faced by those most in need.

We are Gardaí. And above all, we are demanding respect—respect for the men and women who wear the uniform, who show up every day despite the toll it takes on them and, as a consequence, on their families, who are in many cases their only true form of support.

It is unacceptable that our members feel so strongly that they are disrespected—whether carelessly or deliberately, but without doubt, continuously—by the very authority charged with their care. Many feel disrespected and dismissed, undervalued and under attack.

We are Gardaí. We are the voice. And we are demanding full engagement—not just mere submissions “for consideration” on discipline reform, particularly concerning conduct and performance regulations and standards of behaviour that are punitive, draconian, and archaic.

The principles of natural justice, which afford all citizens protections in both employment and law, have been further eroded for our members without explanation or just cause. These hastily imposed, unagreed regulations do little to reassure our members—who have already lost confidence in their authorities—and are seen as further heavy-handed tools used to apportion blame without proper recourse, with outcomes that can result in discipline, suspension, dismissal, or prosecution.

As Gardaí, we are not afforded the protections of the Unfair Dismissals Act. As such, we cannot accept the dilution of our existing protections, rights, and entitlements. These proposed regulations offer no equivalence or equity between those being most impacted and those implementing them.

We are Gardaí. We face down danger, disorder, and distress every single day. When others run from danger, we run into it. It is our job, our duty, our vocation. But what’s becoming more dangerous than anything we face on the streets is the sheer contempt and danger shown to us by the very institutions that should support and protect us.

We are not the ones to fear. It is our authorities—those who fail to deliver and hide behind statistics, bureaucracy, and ever-increasing, unagreed, and imposed policies—who pose the greater threat. These policies undermine our terms and conditions of service.

There is no other employee in this state who endures the level of discipline, career threats, and personal risks we do—through overzealous oversight and its unreasonable application—while those responsible for greater failings act with seeming impunity and unaccountability.

Let me say this clearly: Standing up for ourselves is not disloyalty or disrespect. It is responsibility. It is duty. Duty to our families, our colleagues, and the communities we serve daily, without honest or meaningful support from Garda management or government.

The impact is real. It is felt in the communities we serve. They see the ever-declining frontline numbers. They see the pressure we are under. They see the failure to provide effective policing. They see the toll this takes on us.

We are Gardaí. This is not about confrontation. It is about fairness. We are not seeking privilege—we are demanding recognition for our uniqueness in Irish society. We are demanding parity with other state employees.

We are not the problem—we are the ones holding the line when no one else can or will. We are the men and women who wear the uniform with pride and integrity, who go out day and night to keep our society safe.

We are not to blame for the failure of policing in Ireland. That blame lies fairly and squarely at the door of Garda management, our senior leadership team, and the current government—who are asleep at the wheel and failing to acknowledge the crisis we are in.

So, to Garda management and government alike, we say this:

We are Gardaí. We have been patient. We have sat at the table. We have engaged proactively. We have submitted reports and proposals. And every time, we have been met with delay, deflection, and dismissal.

But we remain ready to talk, to engage, to collaborate, and to find solutions—not problems.

That said, we will no longer accept being ignored. If you want a policing service that is strong, modern, and trusted, then engage with us, listen to us, and work with us. Because we believe—with the right support and consultation—An Garda Síochána can be the best police service in the world.

But that must begin by listening to those of us who deliver it.

Our audience is our membership and the public we serve. And both understand and support our fight. They know who is to blame for this sad and unnecessary state. Make no mistake—they know exactly who is to blame.

The old saying goes, “A poor tradesman always blames his tools.” Well, we are not the tools to blame. We and the public are telling management and government: Look at your own inabilities. Hold yourselves accountable. Stop blaming those of us who serve, who live in and protect these communities.

We have carried this job with pride. We have given more than we have received. And now, we are saying loudly and clearly—enough is enough.

Stop the rhetoric that we, as a representative body, are creating a self-fulfilling prophecy simply by calling out the problems. The criticism is of you—not the job. And if you don’t like the criticism, do something about it. Until then, don’t criticise us for your own failings, arrogance, and egotism.

Our conference theme is: “It was a job worth doing.” Everyone here today knows “It is a job worth doing.” It is a job we are proud of, and we will continue to express solidarity, professionalism, and justice. We will keep fighting for all three.

We are not just defending ourselves—we are defending the future of policing in Ireland.

We are no longer asking for support. We are demanding it—from our Commissioner and our newly appointed Minister for Justice.

Minister, you declined the invitation to be here today—to listen directly to your members’ concerns. But make no mistake: We are Gardaí. And we will no longer bow to draconian impositions. We will not back down.

We have had enough.