Garda Commissioner says no confidence vote felt like ‘real kick in the teeth’

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has said he will not resign after rank-and-file members of Ireland’s police force overwhelmingly voted no confidence in his leadership, but said the result felt like a “real kick in the teeth”.

Almost 99% 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 6.

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 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.

Following the vote, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said the Garda Commissioner has her “full confidence” – a position expressed by her and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar throughout the ballot.

Ms McEntee said it is “regrettable” that the GRA voted overwhelmingly to express no confidence in Mr Harris amidst the ongoing dispute over rosters.

Speaking to reporters at the annual conference of the Association of Garda Superintendents, she said: “His position is tenable. I have full support in the Commissioner as does this Government.

“I believe this vote was taken in the midst of an industrial relations dispute, I think that’s reflected in the outcome of the vote.”

Ms McEntee said the issue of rosters is not the responsibility of any minister but encouraged the unions to engage with internal and State dispute resolution mechanisms over the matter.

She added: “I fully believe that this can be resolved.”

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 27.

“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.”

Ms McEntee said she disagreed with the “highly personal” approach by the GRA over the vote, adding that left her “in a position not able to meet with them”.

Asked when she would next meet the GRA, the minister said she was “happy to meet with them whenever it’s appropriate”.