Poll; Sgt. McCabe for Garda Commissioner

recedite · 12-07-2017 11:40pm #1

Who thinks Sgt. McCabe should be the next Garda Commissioner?

Qualifications for the job;
Experienced Garda with many years in the force.
Has demonstrated a willingness and ability to root out corruption.
Iron will and indominatable spirit which allows him to carry on working for the public good in the face of intense pressure back off.
Smarter than his superiors.

It all started with him trying to root out corruption within the force

Controversy emerged two years ago when Sgt McCabe first brought his concerns about penalty point cancellations to the attention of Garda management and senior politicians. The new allegations made by Sgt McCabe suggest that several hundred penalty points are continuing to be terminated every month by members of the force.

And here when they tried to silence him with false allegations...

The Garda whose daughter made an allegation of child sex abuse against Sgt Maurice McCabe was the subject of a Garda disciplinary procedure that arose as a result of the actions of Sgt McCabe, the Charleton Tribunal has heard.

False allegations were falsified even more within Tusla, to make them even worse

Tribunal barrister Pat Marrinan SC said there had been a “total failure” of systems in Tusla, and “every error that is made is to the detriment of Sgt McCabe. There isn’t an error in his favour”.
“There are those who may say that this litany of grave errors can’t just be coincidence after coincidence,” he said.

They all knew it was a complete stitch up, but nobody told us, or him....

Legal counsel for Sgt Maurice McCabe Michael McDowell SC, while questioning Fiona Ward – a director of counselling with RIAN – claimed he was of the understanding that the former Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald was informed of “the whole situation” pertaining to Sgt McCabe in 2015.
Mr McDowell made the point as he was asking Ms Ward why “nobody bothered” to tell Sgt McCabe about the allegations that he said led to his reputation being “shredded in private”.

Sgt McCabe only survived due to his own mental strength, his personal integrity, and his ability to outsmart those who unjustly tried to destroy him in an attempt to preserve their corrupt status quo.

UP to 20 secret recordings were submitted to the O'Higgins Commission by garda whistleblower Maurice McCabe, several of which contradicted allegations made against him by senior gardai, the Sunday Independent can reveal.

The secretly recorded tapes of conversations between Sgt McCabe and other officers led to a "climb down" on the Garda position "on a few occasions" during O'Higgins Commission hearings, according to sources.

Allegations of further contradiction in evidence will increase pressure on the Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan to clarify why she praised Sgt McCabe in public while her legal team claimed privately to the inquiry that he was motivated by malice.
In another incident, an officer claimed in the witness box that Sgt McCabe refused to cooperate with an internal Garda investigation whereas the recording revealed otherwise, according to sources.

A source close to Sgt McCabe last night claimed senior officers "tried to bury" him during the inquiry.

Does all this not make him the perfect candidate?

McMurphy · 13-07-2017 8:26am

Should be someone from outside the jurisdiction altogether.

McCabe has been through the mills with some of the guards top brass already, some of which are still in their positions, here in lies potential bias accusations from both sides of the divide in the future.

A complete outsider, not politically appointed is what is needed, though I'm not sure how or if that's even possible.

HeidiHeidi · 13-07-2017 8:35am

And what senior management experience/qualifications does he have to run the police force on a day-to-day basis?

It's a bit of a different task to running a small unit in a country station.

blanch152 · 13-07-2017 10:20am

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

And what senior management experience/qualifications does he have to run the police force on a day-to-day basis?

It's a bit of a different task to running a small unit in a country station.

100% agree with that.

One of the problems of bureaucratic organisations, and this applies in the private sector as much as the public sector, is that they promote people to a level of incompetence. You are good at your job so you keep getting promoted. Eventually, you reach a level where you aren't good at your job, and there you stay in your incompetence.

McCabe is obviously good at what he does, but that doesn't mean he would be any good at the next level.

Hitman3000 · 13-07-2017 10:26am

blanch152 wrote:

One of the problems of bureaucratic organisations, and this applies in the private sector as much as the public sector, is that they promote people to a level of incompetence. You are good at your job so you keep getting promoted. Eventually, you reach a level where you aren't good at your job, and there you stay in your incompetence.

Or you know where the 'bodies are buried' and get promoted to keep you sweet. NOS despite her position does not exude competence.

johnnyskeleton · 13-07-2017 11:20am

Should he be reinstated to the Gardai at some senior level, perhaps tasked with investigating corruption within the Gardai - absolutely.

Should he be leapfrogged all the way to the top as a political gesture - no.

jca · 13-07-2017 11:26am

I don't think he should. It needs to be someone completely detached from the force. He certainly would make a good anti corruption Investigator provided he hasn't been too badly damaged mentally.

recedite · 13-07-2017 11:54am

blanch152 wrote: »

One of the problems of bureaucratic organisations, and this applies in the private sector as much as the public sector, is that they promote people to a level of incompetence. You are good at your job so you keep getting promoted. Eventually, you reach a level where you aren't good at your job, and there you stay in your incompetence.

This is often true. But equally you can have a situation like this one, where a guy is not promoted because he does not display the incompetence of his "superiors". As such he will never rise up to superintendent level, and therefore will never even be considered for management material.

The only way to break this cycle is to "parachute in" somebody into the top position who has the qualities and attributes that we, the public, would most like to see represented in An Garda Siochana. That person can then start a brand new cycle of promotion, in future promoting a similar type of person to themselves from the new recruits, all the way up through the ranks.

The parachutist could be from outside the country as mentioned. But IMO they could also be selected from within the system, in which case they would already know it intimately, and which aspects need urgent reform.

recedite · 11-09-2017 12:05pm

Apparently they now require somebody who is up for “deep cultural and structural reforms"
I guess that is a tacit admission that corrupt practices and cover-ups are no longer an acceptable way of doing things.

djPSB · 11-09-2017 12:35pm

Has he experience of leading an organisation with 16000 employees and a billion dollar budget? No.

Someone from outside AGS is required with experience of leading a large organisation successfully and experience in cultural change.

The salary needs to be competitive with that of a CEO of a large multinational. It should be a two year contract initially with key deliverables in place i.e. what needs to be achieved in that period.

The whole management layer needs to be revamped with new personnel brought in. Those that are there aren't competent.

A big problem in our large state agencies, is that Senior Management have zero track record when it comes to successfully managing large organisations and billion euro budgets. In the HSE, it's lead by clinicians with zero executive track records. In AGS, it's lead by police officers.

It's one of the most important positions in the state so someone with a proven track record at executive level is a must.

The Rape of Lucretia · 11-09-2017 1:08pm

No way. He was a sergeant. You cannot just jump low level people up to a very specialised and pressured job. No way has he the skills. This kind of mob appointment of the common man as a Cincinnatus to sort out what the top brass cannot would be a mad a move as appointing another assistant commissioner to the post.
Only a true outsider of high achievement record at that type of job will do.
McCabe. Crikey. Seems a decent guy, so I am sure he would know what a mad idea that would be himself.

James Brown · 11-09-2017 6:06pm

He should be commended but they need an outsider.

Sam Russell · 12-09-2017 12:05pm

I have been thinking some senior Army (or defense personnel) should be considered.

There were serious problems within the Defense Forces that would appear to be solved from within. The same exercise would work for AGS with the correct transfer of about five senior officers into key positions.

The benefit of this would be a change of the 'I'm a member (so you cannot touch me)' attitude of very many serving Gardai which leads to the current malaise, without changing the history of our unarmed police force.

Remember, the AGS were a branch of the Irish Civil Service who licenced bulls, signed passport forms, dealt with dole signing, checked car insurance, and many other Gov administrative duties. To some extent much of this is gone, but the connection to the local community continues.

One new Commissioner, no matter from where, will not solve the toxic culture that permeates the AGS. It will need a team of strong, well versed, individuals who are good at organisation, morale building, and who have no truck with corruption of any sort.

Poll; Sgt. McCabe for Garda Commissioner

Sgt. McCabe for Commissioner 31 votes

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