Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has said rank-and-file members of Ireland’s police force overwhelmingly voting no confidence in his leadership felt like a “real kick in the teeth”.
Almost 99 per cent of gardai who voted in the ballot organised by the Garda Representative Association (GRA) expressed no confidence in the force’s most senior officer.
The GRA issued 10,803 ballots, of which 9,129 were returned as valid votes.
Of those, 9,013 voted no confidence in Mr Harris, with 116 voting confidence in him.
Speaking to the media at the annual conference of the Association of Garda Superintendents, Mr Harris said: “I’m hugely disappointed, it does feel like a real kick in the teeth.”
However, he said he would not resign over the non-binding ballot.
He said: “That would be a completely illogical response to the situation.”
The unprecedented vote stemmed from discontent within the force, mostly around the commissioner’s plan to return to a pre-pandemic roster from November 6th.
A different roster was implemented during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the GRA and other representative groups gave a commitment to return to the old roster when it ended.
But the GRA has raised concerns over low morale in the force and said retention and recruitment issues would affect the implementation of the old roster.
Mr Harris said it was “unclear” whether the GRA were using the vote to comment on his leadership or to express dissatisfaction with an ongoing roster dispute.
“I believe that they felt that they were voting on this, on the decision to go back to the original roster,” he said.
He accused the GRA of behaving irrationally in the industrial relations process with regards to the roster dispute, saying the roster had been agreed and was in place for seven years.
Asked about his future, Mr Harris said: “The point is to stand back up again and finish the job I was employed to do. This is about protecting the people of Ireland and using our substantial resources to do that.”
Announcing the outcome of the vote in Dublin, GRA general secretary Ronan Slevin said it was the largest return for a ballot in the history of the association.
“(It) is a loud and clear message that we as an association have lost confidence in the direction of where policing is being led in this country,” he said.
“And, as such, it is now in the hands of government to stand up and take action.”
Mr Slevin said the association would decide its next move at a specially convened conference at the end of September.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Minister for Justice Helen McEntee have continued to express confidence in the garda boss throughout the balloting process.
After the ballot, Ms McEntee made clear Mr Harris has the “full support” of the Government.
A statement from the Department of Justice said: “Minister McEntee believes the commissioner’s leadership and commitment is evident in the significant progress being made across a range of areas, including tackling organised crime, domestic abuse and many other issues.”
Mr Slevin said the Taoiseach and Minister for Justice “must now listen to ordinary frontline rank-and-file gardai”.
“This result proves that the commissioner has lost the confidence of the overwhelming majority of the force,” he added.
“Management in the form of Government now needs to urgently intervene and make changes to help improve overall employee wellbeing and morale, and provide the public with the policing service that they deserve.
“It is our position that until this is done and the entire list of issues that we have previously raised are addressed and resolved there should be no changes to the roster situation or any specialised units depleted, redeployed or disbanded to accommodate this.
“We’ve stated from the outset that the decision to ballot members was not prompted by a single issue, but by an exhaustive list of concerns within the ranks of An Garda Siochana.
“Management and Government must now digest the result of this ballot, a result that delivers a resounding message that almost 99% of rank-and-file gardai have lost confidence in the Garda Commissioner.
“We will now prepare for our specially convened delegates’ conference on September 27th.
“At which time this result and any developments within the intervening two weeks will be discussed and debated, and where we will take direction from our delegates on the next course of action.”
Mr Slevin also claimed Ms McEntee was refusing to engage with the association and had not held a meeting with the representative body since she came back to post in June following maternity leave.
He said Simon Harris, who stood in as justice minister in Ms McEntee’s absence, had met GRA representatives in February and April.
“The last time we engaged was with minister Harris when he was filling in for minister McEntee, and that was in February and again in April at a conference,” he told reporters.
“I have written to minister McEntee three times since she resumed office in June seeking a meeting.
“I’ve spoken to her once personally below the passing-out parade in Templemore (Garda college) seeking a meeting, and I’ve yet to receive a date or an invitation to such.”
The Department of Justice said Ms McEntee “regularly engages with frontline gardai across the country, knows how difficult their jobs are and has discussed their issues of concern with them”.
“She knows the unique role and responsibilities gardai have in Irish life and the respect in which they are held by the public,” the statement added.
“The minister has consistently said that while it is entirely legitimate for any staff associations to raise issues of concern, a personalised ballot would not resolve any such issues, nor has it done so.
“The decision of the GRA executive to pursue such a ballot was therefore regrettable.
“The minister acknowledges how important the issue of rosters is to members of An Garda Siochana, their personal lives and work-life balance.
“It is also important that the commissioner can run the Garda organisation in an efficient and effective manner to serve the need of the public by having as many members on duty as possible at the busiest times.
“However, differences over rosters can only be resolved by talking and negotiating.
“The minister believes negotiations, such as by using the industrial relations mechanisms of the state which have a proven record of resolving the most difficult disputes, are the only way to reach a solution.”
