The Gardaí have faced complaints or allegations of discourtesy, harassment and perjury. A total of 1,173 complaints were made against the in 2005, with over 2000 complaints made in 2017. Some such incidents have attracted broad attention and resulted in a number of reform initiatives—such as those relating to
Garda whistleblowers or which led to the
Morris and
Barr Tribunals.
Mishandling of cases and complaints The
Kerry Babies case was one of the first public inquiries into the mishandling of a investigation. Later, in the 1980s,
the Ferns Report (an inquiry into allegations of clerical sexual abuse) described as "wholly inadequate" the handling of one of eight formal complaints made to
Wexford gardaí, but noted that the remaining formal complaints were handled in an "effective, professional and sensitive" manner. The Gardaí were also criticised in the
Murphy Report in relation to the handing over of the case of Fr.
Paul McGennis to
Archbishop McQuaid by Commissioner Costigan. Some very senior Gardaí were criticised for regarding priests as being outside their remit in 1960. On 26 November 2009, then Commissioner
Fachtna Murphy apologised for the failure of the Garda Síochána to protect victims of child abuse, saying that inappropriate contact between gardaí and the Dublin Archdiocese had taken place at the time, The Gardaí were criticised by the commission of investigation into the Dean Lyons case for their handling of the investigation into the
Grangegorman killings. In his report,
George Birmingham said that the Gardaí had used
leading questions in their interviews with Lyons, and had failed to act on a suspicion that Lyons' confession was unreliable. For a period, the gardaí involved in the case failed to act on the knowledge that another man, Mark Nash, had confessed to the crime.
Allegations resulting in Tribunals of Inquiry In the 1990s and early 2000s the faced allegations of corrupt and dishonest policing in
County Donegal. This became the subject of a Garda inquiry (the Carty inquiry) and subsequent judicial inquiry (the Morris Tribunal). The Morris Tribunal found that some gardaí based in County Donegal had invented a Provisional IRA informer, made bombs and claimed credit for locating them, and attempted to frame
Raphoe publican Frank McBrearty Junior for murderthe latter case involving a €1.5m settlement with the State. A similar case saw a €4.5m judgement, after another Donegal publican was wrongly convicted based on "perjured Garda evidence" and "a conspiracy to concoct false evidence" by the same Donegal-based gardaí. On 20 April 2000, members of the ERU shot dead 27-year-old
John Carthy at the end of a 25-hour siege as he left his home in
Abbeylara, County Longford with a loaded shotgun in his hands. There were allegations made of inappropriate handling of the situation and of the reliance on lethal force by the . This led to a inquiry, and subsequently, the Barr Tribunal. The official findings of the tribunal of inquiry, under Justice Robert Barr, were that the responsible sergeant had made 14 mistakes in his role as the negotiator during the siege, and failed to make real efforts to achieve resolution during the armed stand-off. It further stated however that the sergeant was limited by lack of experience and resources, and recommended a review of command structures, and that the ERU be equipped with stun guns and other non-lethal options. The Barr tribunal further recommended a formal working arrangement between Gardaí and state psychologists, and improvements in Garda training. During the mid-2010s, the Garda whistleblower scandal led to a tribunal of enquiry, and the resignations of two ministers for justice and two Garda commissioners.
Allegations involving abuse of powers One of the first charges of serious impropriety against the force rose out of the handling of the
Sallins Train Robbery in 1976. This case eventually led to accusations that a "Heavy Gang" within the force intimidated and tortured the accused. This eventually led to a
Presidential pardon for one of the accused. In 2004, an
RTÉ Prime Time documentary accused elements within the of abusing their powers by physically assaulting people arrested. A retired
Circuit Court judge (W. A. Murphy) suggested that some members of the force had committed
perjury in criminal trials before him but later stated that he was misquoted, while
Minister of State Dick Roche, accused Gardaí in one instance of "torture". The Commissioner accused the television programme of lacking balance. The documentary followed the publication of footage by the
Independent Media Centre showing scuffles between and
Reclaim the Streets demonstrators. One in the footage was later convicted of
common assault, while several other were acquitted. In 2014, a debate arose relating to alleged abuse of process in cancelling penalty points (for traffic offences), and a
subsequent controversy resulted in a number of resignations. In 2017,
Dara Quigley, who lived with mental illness, was arrested for public nudity, an incident captured on CCTV. A Garda member went to the police station CCTV control room and recorded the incident on a phone, then shared it to a
WhatsApp group including other Gardaí. The video was quickly shared to Facebook and went viral. Quigley took her own life several days later. The Garda, who recorded and shared the video, was not charged with a crime.
Allegations involving cross-border policing and collusion with the IRA The former head of intelligence of the
Provisional IRA, Kieran Conway claimed that in 1974 the IRA were tipped off by "high-placed figures" within the Gardaí about a planned RUC Special Branch raid, which was intended to capture members of the IRA command. Asked if this was just a one-off example of individual Gardaí colluding with the IRA, Conway claimed: "It wasn't just in 1974 and it wasn't just concentrated in border areas like Dundalk, it was some individuals but it was more widespread." Following a recommendation from the
Cory Collusion Inquiry, the
Smithwick Tribunal investigated allegations of collusion following the
1989 killing of two Royal Ulster Constabulary officers by the Provisional IRA as they returned from a meeting with the . The tribunal's report was published in December 2013, and noted that, although there was no "smoking gun", Judge Smithwick was "satisfied there was collusion in the murders" and that "evidence points to the fact that there was someone within the Garda station assisting the IRA". The report was also critical of two earlier Garda investigations into the murders, which it described as "inadequate". Irish Justice Minister
Alan Shatter apologised "without reservation" for the failings identified in the report. The family of
Eddie Fullerton, a
Buncrana councillor killed in 1991 by members of the
Ulster Defence Association, criticised the subsequent investigation, and in 2006, the Minister for Justice considered a public inquiry into the case.
Operational management and finances refinery in
Erris, County Mayo Protests at the proposed
Royal Dutch Shell Corrib gas refinery near
Erris, County Mayo saw large Garda operations with up to 200 Gardaí involved. By September 2008, the cost of the operation was €10 million, and by January 2009 estimated to have cost €13.5 million. Some outlets compared this to the €20 million budgeted for operations targeting
organised crime. A section of road used by the protesters was allegedly dubbed "the Golden Mile" by Gardaí because of
overtime opportunities. Complaints were also made about Garda management and handling of the protests. In 2017, a number of reported operational issues (including handling of the
Garda whistleblower scandal, falsified alcohol breath tests, and the finances of the
Garda Training College) were referenced as contributors to the early retirement of then commissioner
Nóirín O'Sullivan. == Reforms==