Fitzgerald was running the 'Department of Fingers Crossed'

My opinion piece appeared in the Irish Independent on the 16 Dec 2016. I am re-sharing this article in view of the possibility that a general election could be called due to failures within the Department of Justice and by the former Minister for Justice. My final line in the article asked if the Department and Minister for Justice had learned anything since the failures of 1976. Recent revelations would confirm that they haven't. For the security of the state and its citizens it is time for the government to create a separate civilian intelligence agency and for it to be positioned within the Department of An Taoiseach.

The Garda Commissioner has announced that the Dublin Armed Support Unit is finally operational. The unit was established following the gangland killing at the Regency Hotel. This attack highlighted the unpreparedness by An Garda Síochána to respond to a heavily armed attack within the state. This was despite that eight years previously terrorists had attacked Mumbai, three years since the Westgate Shopping Mall attack in Kenya, seven years after al Qaeda and over two years since the Islamic State called for Mumbai style attacks on western cities and targets.

The new Garda unit does not have a dedicated commander. The Minister for Justice has delayed promotions within the force as she has stated that she would prefer to wait until the new Policing Authority assumes responsibility for promotions within the force. 

The Minister for Justice seeks credit for being a reforming minister. One of her reforms was the establishment of the Policing Authority. The reader should note however that this is a Policing Authority and not a Policing and Security Services Authority. Security services are not covered. Therefore, under close examination the Authority has serious flaws when it comes to Garda promotions and the security of the state.

The Policing Authority Act amended the 2005 Garda Siochána Act by including what is defined as ‘security services’ functions. These functions are so important and so vast that their equivalent are not assigned to any other police force in Europe. Security of the state elsewhere is the responsibility of separate civilian intelligence agencies.

Some security experts would claim that the minister when bringing forward the Policing Authority Bill missed the opportunity to extract the state security functions from the Garda Commissioner. This is especially so as the minister would have been aware of the Garda Inspectorate’s 2014 Report which highlighted the very poor management of the Garda force.

The new Policing Authority has tremendous responsibilities regarding promotion within the force. It is tasked with nominating candidates for the positions of Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner; and actually appoints individuals to the ranks of Assistant Commissioner, Chief Superintendent, and Superintendent.

But it has been made very clear by the Minister and her department that the Policing Authority has no competence or function whatsoever when it comes to Garda responsibilities concerning the security of the state.

Thus it would appear that the Policing Authority will be interviewing and promoting, or nominating for promotion, individuals to the most senior positions within An Garda Síochána based on their policing record without any knowledge or questioning of their past or current competencies dealing with state security. This is a major flaw and in the long term the security of the state can only be more adversely affected than it is at the moment.

In 2014 when the Garda Commissioner’s position became vacant the Minister for Justice, Ms Frances Fitzgerald, opened the vacancy to both national and international candidates. Individuals from abroad were invited to apply and a number reached the second interview. The vacancy was eventually filled by a member of An Garda Síochána. However, the question must be asked as to whether the minister was realistically willing to put responsibility for state security into the hands of a foreign national? If yes, then it would put our state intelligence system at risk on a number of fronts and would confirm that state security was not getting the priority that it deserves.

There are serious threats facing this state, probably more so than at any other time since ‘The Emergency’. Anyone involved in security knows that the state is not well prepared and hoping for the best will not suffice. The amalgamation of the policing role and state security functions within An Garda Síochána will always curtail the government’s options regarding investigations, reform, promotions and responsibilities.

In July 1976, the then new British ambassador Sir Christopher Ewart Biggs had meetings with the Department of Justice and An Garda Síochána. He expressed his concerns regarding his security and possible attack on his vehicle. He was assured that such an event hadn’t happened yet and was unlikely. That evening he wrote in his diary that he felt he just had a meeting with the ‘Department of Fingers Crossed’. Nine days later he was killed when his car was blown up by the PIRA. One wonders has the Justice Minister and her department learnt from history or are they still working on the basis of fingers crossed when it comes to state security.