ROSTER ROW

Frontline gardai ‘disappointed’ after Drew Harris meeting and press ahead with no-confidence vote plans

• Published: 13:51, 3 Aug 2023
• Updated: 17:00

THE body which represents frontline Gardai has expressed “disappointment” after their meeting with Garda Commissioner Drew Harris.

The Garda Representative Association’s Officer Board made the claim after they met with the Commissioner to discuss a wide range of issues.

During the meeting at Garda HQ in Phoenix Park, issues such as resources, recruitment and suspension were all on the agenda.

But the GRA outlined how their concerns over Garda rosters were not resolved.

Following the meeting, the GRA is to press ahead with its vote of no confidence in the Commissioner.

The GRA’s  interim General Secretary Ronan Slevin outlined the group’s frustrations with Ireland’s most senior officer

The meeting – arranged after a request was made by the Commissioner – comes after the GRA outlined how morale within the force in recent months was at “an all time low.”

Mr Slevin said: “The GRA’s Officer Board met with the Garda Commissioner for what we were informed would be an opportunity to discuss some of the concerns recently raised by the Garda Representative Association on behalf of its membership.

“While certain issues such as resources, recruitment and suspensions were raised and discussed, we are disappointed to report that the central issue regarding rosters remains unresolved.

“In fact, the Commissioner reiterated his intention to revert to the pre-covid roster in November and stated that his team have already initiated the implementation of this.

“Commissioner Harris also informed our representatives of the dissatisfaction of the GRA’s Central Executive Committee’s decision to ballot its members on a vote of no confidence in his leadership and questioned the intent of such a ballot.

“The ballot of members will now proceed as planned with the result expected within four to six weeks.”

GRA President Brendan O’Connor said: “There is no movement on that issue. We articulated our members surprise at the move to go back to the pre-Covid roster.

“It was a very unexpected move from the Commissioner, probably the single biggest factor that contributed to the position we’re in but there’s no change.

“The meeting ended and we parted and there’s no other meeting scheduled at this time.

“We expect that the ballot will be printed and sent out to members in the next two weeks and there will be probably a four week window for members to cast a ballot.”

Last Wednesday the central executive committee of the GRA came to the decision to ballot its members.

The CEC cited what it said was the commissioner’s failure to address the ongoing recruitment and retention crisis and lack of appropriate training as among the issues behind the decision to hold the vote.

The GRA represents almost 12,000 rank-and-file gardai.

The association has previously said that recruitment and retention in the Garda is unprecedented in scale.

It has also expressed concern that the Government’s year-end target of adding 1,000 new gardai to the ranks will not be achieved.