Garda Commissioner Drew Harris – A New Brush?

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris 
– A New Brush?

So the guards are getting a new Commissioner; a new brush for an old housecleaning problem.  A northern Protestant; a PSNI officer with 35 years' experience whose father was killed by the IRA.  We wish him well; sincerely, because he is surely facing a difficult time of it as head of one of the most corrupt and inept police forces in Europe whose reputation among ordinary people has plummeted in a few years from trust to amused bewilderment to angry mistrust.   The 2017 survey (taken before revelations of false breath tests, wrongful convictions and the departure of the then commissioner) found that less than half of respondents believed that the Gardaí was a well managed or world-class police service.  No offence to Drew Harris – he isn’t what we wanted.  We wanted and probably won't get a Chris Patton figure with sweeping powers to reform, fire and recruit a new police force from the ground up but that’s not the Irish way which is the coverup followed by a few spin doctors’ lies and a half-assed fix which sees the worst offenders promoted out of the public gaze.  Something had to be done and Justice Minister Charles Flanagan knew his reputation as the minister who failed to sort out the guards would continue to dog him unto the end of his days unless he did something quickly before he retired and/or his government fell and the Soldiers of Destiny took over for another bout of the kleptocratic government they excel at.   His previous appointee had been a disaster; a sop to the feminists who turned out to be one of the boys; steeped in the garda tradition that sees themselves as a fine body of men above reproach and above the law to whom the security of the state and the rule of law might be entrusted without question because they know what is best for the country.  They might have known what was best for the guards and how to stifle whistleblowers and critics but the interests of the country have somehow eluded them.  Scandal followed scandal for the last twenty years; each more bizarre and bewildering than its predecessor until even Charles Flanagan who is not by nature a reforming minister realised the political system had run out of excuses for its embarrassing police force and somehow found the courage to act.  He was told by journalists, constituents and commentators to go and find a Chris Patton; give him the necessary powers and sort out the problem for all time.  He didn’t.  Now he has hired Drew Harris instead.  On the face of it the man is highly qualified with a solid record and may even be the right man for the job but he has not been given the kind of powers that were given to Chris Patten to take on a problem that has been a hundred years in the making.  He is a commissioner heading up a 14,000 strong force, many of whom will see him as a threat and a humiliation.  He is a threat because he will surely try to change old ways of policing that have manifestly failed – he has the power to propose reforms and one hopes politicians will have the wit to support him.  He is a humiliation because the Minister had to look outside the state to find someone with the ability and integrity the job requires.

So Drew Harris it is to be and he has been endorsed by the Unionist establishment.  Gerry Adams is less enthusiastic since it was Harris who had him arrested and held for several days in the middle of an election campaign over the murder of Jean McConville - a decision many regard as bizarre and ill-advised and which rebounded in Adam's favour and who emerged from detention with the air of a man who has just been handed an election trump card. (He was later gifted a second in the form of Arlene Foster's now-famous "alligator" remark in an election that was surely the high point of his political career).  Least enthusiastic of all are the families of the victims of the UVF Glenanne Gang.  In 2010, then Assistant Chief Constable Drew Harris wrote a letter to the legal representatives of UVF victims telling them that they would not get an investigation into the wider questions raised by the activities of the Glenanne gang. The most significant wider question was the extent of state and police collusion in the gang and its murderous activities, including the deaths of at least 89 people.  Concerns have been raised about his previous close association with MI5 and the possibility of divided loyalties and his appointment during a highly sensitive time when relations between the UK and the Republic are on edge because of Brexit.  His first loyalty will probably not lie with "the force"; that has previously been shown to be part of the problem.

Garda HQ, Phoenix Park, Dublin. Not an organisation amenable to reform

His appointment makes several significant statements.  Even in the absence of a Patton-style reform his appointment shows some level of intent to tackle the garda problem.  Somewhere in the back of the public mind will be the worry that this is yet another politically correct appointment intended to delude and mollify angry and cynical voters.  Time will tell and one can only hope Minister Flanagan has the courage and the wit to support his appointee.  His appointment reassures Unionists because it shows the southern political system trusts someone from a northern background to carry out one of the most important functions in the state.  Harris is surely aware of the treatment John Stalker received at the hands of the RUC when he investigated the RUC shoot to kill policy.  (Stalker was removed from his position in charge of the inquiry, was suspended from duty over allegations of association with criminals, was cleared and returned to duty but was not reinstated as head of the inquiry which was taken over by Colin Sampson of the West Yorkshire Police. Its findings were never made public.  Stalker's legal bill was not paid by his employers and was eventually covered by public subscription.)   Apparently hell hath no fury like a police force whose traditional prerogatives are threatened.  Then there is the problem of the Irish Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform which has for generations ignored Justice, Equality and Law reform and has done more or less as it pleased.  It has made policing an extension of party politics resulting in calls that policing and politics be permanently separated.  Finally there are the ordinary, decent, rank-and-file Gardaí who want to do their jobs, draw their pay, rear families and regain the trust of the community.  One likes to think Commissioner Harris will enjoy their support. They are the people who deliver policing and not the politicians or the department of Justice mandarins and they deserve fair play and good leadership.  A very few are not decent and deserve sacking because they have brought justice and policing into disrepute.  Rotten cops have been compared to bad apples which contaminate the whole barrel.

In Ireland, Chris Patten is best known and most admired for his role in 1999 as chairman of the commission which transformed the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) into the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). The commission made 175 recommendations, including a new oath for officers, removing the British flag from police buildings and recruiting equal numbers from both communities.  Many in the Republic hoped his example would be followed in Dublin but were disappointed

Drew Harris is a product of the Patten reforms.  Tommie Gorman wrote on the RTE news website on June 26^th:

“The PSNI I’ve dealt with during almost two decades has consistently been more impressive than the gardaí. Part of that was due to the lesson emphasised time and time during The Troubles - to achieve cross-community it had no choice but to radically change. There was the very practical consideration that if officers were not professional in their day-to-day work, they faced a real threat of injury or death. Another key reason for the process of inbuilt, ongoing reform within the PSNI is the level of structured scrutiny and oversight it faces - from the Policing Board, to the Policing Ombudsman to political and societal monitoring.  Drew Harris is a product of such ongoing scrutiny.”

This is significant as it gives reason for hope he will be less fearful of reform than a home-grown commissioner from the “We’re a fine body of men and we know best” tradition.

PSNI online FAC application

We don’t know where Drew Harris stands on Gun Bans.  Is he comfortable with Northern Ireland’s strict but infinitely fairer gun laws?  Or would he favour the traditional garda objection to private gun ownership?  Or perhaps he would like to see an English – style handgun ban?  The shooting community will wisely withhold approval until they have seen how he handles firearms licensing.  One would like to think we have seen the last of the cute hoor propaganda campaign against gun ownership and shooting sports that has emanated from the gardaí and the DOJ for the last ten years.  We would certainly like to trust Drew Harris.  Does he value trust? We don’t know. There are a few things we DO know.  Charles Flanagan will want some kind of garda reform and the disarming of criminal gangs.  Previously the guards’ and the DOJ’s cherished belief was that the disarming of criminals began with the banning of legally held firearms.  There is absolutely nothing to give us to believe that their mindset has changed.  The question now is whether Drew Harris will have the courage and integrity to challenge that myth. In fairness, he comes from a system that does not usually see sportsmen as a threat to  national security or the safety of the population.  If we are lucky and I stress the IF; we may cautiously hope for some fair play in this area.  Northern Ireland has an online firearm licensing system that works very well apart from delays caused by staffing problems.  If Drew Harris were to introduce a similar system in the Republic and centralise firearms licensing so that at least there was respite from the prejudices of local superintendents and some kind of consistency and standardisation in the processing of applications he would certainly win the support of the shooting community.  That is hoping for a lot in a state that regards a gunowner as an unconvicted criminal so we should not get carried away by optimism. On the other hand it behoves us to give this newcomer some time in which to demonstrate his goodwill before we withdraw ours.  My personal view is that while the appointment may carry certain risks it cannot be worse than what we have previously endured.

 

Sport Shooting in Northern Ireland is considerably less fraught with legal difficulties than in the south. Is it perhaps too optimistic to hope that the new Commissioner would reform licensing? Probably.

I have lived in Northern Ireland for fourteen years.  I have had contact with the PSNI in firearms licensing and very little else apart from a run in with a traffic cop.  I have nothing but respect for the people in firearms licensing and have been allowed to pursue my sport without undue interference.  The traffic cop was a bigot in my opinion – you can’t win ‘em all. I have received none of the outrageous and criminally hostile treatment I endured from the gardaí in the south. I’m not saying they’re all bad – they are not – but I encountered a lot of bad ones.  Many of my friends including my wife are Protestant so I have an insight into northern society few southerners are privileged to have.  My friends have asked me from time to time how I feel about a united Ireland.  I tell them bluntly I am mildly unionist and was happy to escape the shambolic mess that is firearms licensing in the south and don’t want to go back but that if a united Ireland has to be, then the northern Protestant may well find he has an important role to play because as far as I am concerned there is a tradition of integrity and religious observance in Northern Ireland that can only benefit the south.  A body of Presbyterian and Church of Ireland representatives in Dáil Éireann might just shake up that assembly in a positive way.  My darkest and most irrational fear is a united Ireland governed by a joined-up SDLP-FF-SF and a return to the kleptocracy of pre-2011 and the guards running firearms licensing for the whole island and myself too old to emigrate for a fourth time.

Casting and loading your own ammunition, regarded as a harmless hobby in most countries is banned in the republic of Ireland.  Dare we hope for reform?  Probably not.

So, Commissioner Drew Harris;  welcome to the Republic of Ireland where our hundred year old experiment with democracy has foundered and our preferred government is a corrupt kleptocracy and policing is feudal and religion has been replaced by political correctness and the environment is a disaster and the Germans make all the important decisions and the banks are operated by highway robbers in pinstripes and politics is "pork barrel" and shooters are a discriminated against minority and we really need someone to redeem us from our corrosive cynicism and save our Justice Minister from further embarrassment.  Good luck!

Addendum:  Stephen Travers who is a survivor of the Miami Showband Massacre and is currently taking legal action against the British Government for the release of documentation said on 27/06/2018 that he held Mr Harris who is currently a senior officer in the Northern Ireland Police Commissioner's office, responsible for blocking the release of documentation on the perpetrators.