Some Gardai were present at a murder

I would support the raising of such questions by Clare Daly in the Dail and
took a perverse pleasure in the results that she has attained thus far in forcing the establishment to air some of the dirty laundry on how this little country is really run.

But on this one she has played to gallery, playing the man not the ball.

Clare knows full well that the terms of reference for the Garda Misconduct Allegations review is NOT AN INVESTIGATIVE BODY.

The are reviewing files (approx 284) and will provide a recommendation based on the advice of counsel to the Minister for Justice on whether to open fresh investigations or not.

Clare is pouring oil on the fire in her actual question to Enda Kenny.

"How in God's name can a review panel recommend anything if this is the type of shoddy investigation that is going on?" alluding to the fact that no one has contacted her informer.

Politicians play a long game - if no further actions is recommended then Clare has a platform to attack the review committee and this little seed will grow. If something comes from this, Kenny looks bad and beatification for Clare is assured.

The perverse pleasure derived from the arrogance of the establishment is a gift that keeps on giving and Clare is the chief hander-outer of presents at the moment.

Floppybits wrote: »

Look I am sure a lot of people have friends/family/neighbors who are guards and yes they are doing a job some people wouldn't do, but it is their choice to do that job, no one that we know off put a gun to their heads and said you need to become a Guard. It is a choice they made and just because it is a sh1tty job does not mean that they are above the law or above any other citizen in the state.

With the controversies that have come to light about the behavior of AGS, this has tarnished their reputation as far as I am concerned, from the behavior in Donegal to the treatment of the whistleblowers and the previous Commissioners behavior have led to the tarnishing of the reputation of the AGS and they are the only ones that we know about. The only people who can be blamed on that are the AGS. They are the ones who turned a blind eye to these things, who treated whistleblowers like dirt to drive them out of the force.

So people are entitled to whinge about the AGS when people see this sort of behavior and also the perceived lack of interest of the AGS when members of the Public make complaints about being the victims of muggings, burglaries, thefts, intimidation too name a few crimes.

Yeah, you're right. They're all corrupt.

Floppybits wrote: »

can you please point out where I said they are all corrupt?

They most definitely are not all corrupt. There are a lot of guards who are doing a very difficult job to the best of their ability but there is corruption in the system. I expect the decent guards would want these incidents to be brought to light so they are not all tarred with the same brush.

Jawgap wrote: »

She didn't pass the roadside test - she said she was incapable of using the intoxilyzer and was, as is usual, arrested and taken to the station for an evidential breath test.

Maybe you should read what she actually said http://claredaly.ie/statement-from-clare-daly-td/

Clare Daly wrote:

I was breathalysed but the equipment didn’t register a reading.

Jawgap wrote: »

I did.....

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/td-clare-daly-arrested-on-suspicion-of-drinkdriving-29024407.html



So when the Indo reports a story that supports her (as in about this supposed murder) it's grand, but if it reports a story that shows her in a less than flattering light - let me guess - it's a Denis O'Brien mouthpiece?

The Indo takes precedent over what she says in her own statement?
How did I guess?

I didn't read anything about this in the Indo...I don't read or buy it.

Jawgap wrote: »

Well unless she's infallible, there's a clear motive to misrepresent the situation.

And the intoxilyzer won't register a reading if you don't exhale hard enough. She states it didn't register a reading - if she used it properly it would have registered a reading. Therefore she failed to provide a specimens of breath and was arrested as anyone else would be.

And handcuffed and insulted by the station garda and the story was leaked to the press. Normal behaviour by Garda arresting just an 'ordinary' Joe Soap?

Jawgap wrote: »

If you're arrested you're handcuffed because you're in custody and their responsibility.

Plus if she feels she was treated harshly she can report it to GSOC - just like any other citizen.

And the leak to the newspaper, what spin have you been told to put on that? She did that herself so that 'decent' people could throw stuff like this around?

Yellowblackbird wrote:

She was p1ssed enough to break the law by taking an illegal right turn. The booze either affected her ability to read or understand road signs or affected her propensity to care about how she was driving. One or the other.

Happyman42 wrote: »

And the leak to the newspaper, what spin have you been told to put on that? She did that herself so that 'decent' people could throw stuff like this around?

Ok, there are processes in place that citizens can avail of if they feel the Guards are abusing their powers.

Leaking can be reported to the GPSU.

If she feels they or GSOC have failed to reach a proper decision she can apply for a judicial review.

Has she? I'm guessing she hasn't for a very obvious reason.

Desolation Of Smug wrote: »

I love threads like these. You get to see what side of the tracks a lot of posters are on. Anyone normal would go "Hmm, that's a pretty serious situation she's outlining....tell me more.." but the Defenders of the State wade in with their boots - "she's mad....she's bad....she was drunk......nothing to see here...."

Very telling.

So tell us more about the situation then.

Bambi wrote: »

The same way alan shatter was?

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/dont-you-know-who-i-am-what-shatter-said-to-garda-29300483.html

Some amount of codology out of ye

Eh?

I'm not sure how the two are linked, but if it makes you happy, continue.....

Floppybits wrote: »

Yep she has made a complaint to gso and also started high court proceedings againSt the garda commissioner.

It was in the independent on the 1st of February 2015. GSOC said they don't comment of cases.

http://m.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/clare-daly-takes-high-court-action-over-drink-driving-arrest-30954337.html

Well, to reiterate my earlier point - good for her. That's the way it's supposed to work, plus it sets a decent example by showing that our TDs are willing to use the same processes they legislated to put in place to allow citizens to vindicate their rights.