GRA Presidents Speech

Unelected authority figures in blue shirts expressing populist views and attacking constitutionally elected politicians during a period of economic depression. Be afraid....very afraid.
 
Likewise Dublin Texas I agree with a lot of what you say even if it has a bit of Yankee spin in it!

In this case, however, I disagree with you completely! You simply cannot have a police force, or army indeed, which either will not uphold the democratically elected government or which expresses a political view. What the president of the GRA is at amounts to sedition and they should be jailed for it. Harsh but fair methinks!
 

Just before you rush to lock people up and throw away the key, let's just clarify;
- there is no suggestion that the police force is not upholding the democratically elected government
- the police force has not expressed any political view

What has happened here is the leader of the representative body that represents many ordinary police officers, has expressed a political view. The only person he has to answer to is his own members.
 
ajapale said:
Unelected authority figures in blue shirts expressing populist views and attacking constitutionally elected politicians during a period of economic depression. Be afraid....very afraid.
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That says it all. Their remit is upholding the law. Nothing more, nothing less. The whole list of salary extras was in the DM during the week. If these weren't so blatantly one sided, it would be laughable. Shoeboot money? Do the GRA think that the rest of us taxpayers run around barefoot?
 
OK, Guys, Let's go the other way on this. Deny any kind of 'trades union' representation to the Gardaí.

Go back to the days when if a pub was raided the Garda involved would be offered a pint or a transfer by the local gombeen politician, usually in front of gaping hangers on.

Go back to the days when if some party contributor was caught speeding the garda was leaned on to drop charges.

Go back to the days when politicians could drive the wrong way through roundabouts and the wrong way through one way systems and still get away with it.

Go back to the days when some underqualified son of a party hack could get a place in Templemore keeping out the person entitled to the course.

Go back to the days when politicians could do what they liked.

Come to think of it - we are back in those days. But, I am with the GRA on the speech that wasn't. Somebody has to face up to our politicians. We cannot depend on the pensioners and civil service all the time to do our facing up.
 
@birroc, nice find, good letter, given the rag it's published in. I like this line - "Mr Stone is increasingly sounding like a shop steward from [broken link removed] in the 1970s." And we all know what a success the unions, the then British government, and the work-force made of British Leyland.
 
Leper, are you suggesting that Gardai are no longer getting the free pint after hours?
Are you suggesting that they are not using their ID to get into nightclubs etc for free?
Are you suggesting that they are not using their ID to get away with drink driving?

Try being in a car crash where you have been hit by a Garda or his/her family member and see how well you get on.
A family members daughter was knocked down and injured by a Garda’s brother and his family suffered two years of low level intimidation and obstruction attempting to bring the case to court.

Most of our police do a great job most of the time and most of them are very professional in how they conduct themselves but there is a sizable minority that are a disgrace to their uniform and that has been the case for years it has nothing to do with levies, extra taxes or the removal of some of their myriad of allowances.
 
Purple, why are you posting your griefs on some members of the Garda Force here?

Why don't you make an official statement to the Garda Ombudsman?

And to answer your questions - I did not suggest any of what you said. Please read my post again.
 
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Your last post implies that pay cuts will in some way cause a return to the "bad old days". I don't see why this would happen and while there seems to have been a big improvement in the professionalism of the police I am of the opinion that this is a result of what happened in Donegal rather than the big pay rises the Gardai enjoyed over the last few years.
 
Leper said:
OK, Guys, Let's go the other way on this.
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There is a third way. Let's not have the days of the gombeen politicians leaning on the local Garda. But let's not have the fast approaching days of the Garda leaning on the politicans elected to run this country.

How about an independent force, independent of political interference, where neither the Gardai nor the politicians applies political pressure.
 

Very well put.
 
Members of the Gardai still vote. Their professional association is entitled to have opinions and express opinions just like any other professional body. Maybe if we heard more views like this over recent years, we wouldn't be in the almighty mess that we are in now.
 

Strangely enough the GRA weren't worrying about the economy while they were getting big pay increases... just like most of us.
 
Complainer said:
... Their professional association is entitled to have opinions and express opinions just like any other professional body...
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Gardai, like teachers and prison officers for example, are not members of a profession. Their employment does not meet the generally accepted criteria for classification as a profession (see previous AAM threads). In order to avoid any confusion, their "professional body" is simply a trade union not a professional registration body like the ones that accountants, solicitors, doctors, nurses etc must belong to in order to legally represent themselves as solicitors, doctors, etc., practice their professions and discharge the duties of their offices. These latter professionals may often be members of a trade union / representative body as well as a professional body.
 
Right - we wouldn't want the plebs getting above their station in life. All this 'having opinions' stuff - the end of the world as we know it....
 
Complainer said:
Right - we wouldn't want the plebs getting above their station in life. All this 'having opinions' stuff - the end of the world as we know it....
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eh?


Mathepac's post backs up what you are saying; the GRA can say what they like since they are just a trade union, not a statutory professional body.
Just because someone doesn’t hold the exact same political views as you it doesn’t mean that you have to blindly disagree with everything they say.
 
Purple said:
... the GRA can say what they like since they are just a trade union, not a statutory professional body...
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Thanks, that's the sentence I missed typing at the end. The IMO (a union) negotiates contracts, pay and T&C's for doctors, whereas the Medical Council, a statutory body under the Medical Practitioners Act, is responsible for registration, standards, training, disciplinary procedures etc. As far as I am concerned, within the limits of propriety, the IMO (like the GRA) can speechify and lobby all they like on behalf of their members; similar behaviour from the Medical Council would give me cause for concern.
 

I don't fully agree with you. I accept completely that you are factually correct but since their members are serving Gardai it is a de-facto politicisation of the police force.
 
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