Sir, – Any person who makes it to the rank of commissioner of An Garda Síochána is unlikely to be a shrinking violet. If Martin Callinan had been keen to remain in office, he could have been expected to seek to meet the then minister of justice at the earliest opportunity. This he did not do.
Mr Callinan was already beyond the normal retirement age for commissioner and had been granted an extension in office by the Government. He had also been dealing with quite an amount of public controversy. It doesn’t surprise me that he chose to retire. – Yours, etc,
TOM SHEEDY,
Malahide,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – It is obvious that An Taoiseach’s intension in sending the secretary general of the Department of Justice to the home of the Garda commissioner in the middle of the night was to wish him a good night’s sleep. – Yours, etc,
DENIS O’DONOVAN,
Cork.
Sir, – History has shown us that our politicians tend to make some very bad decisions late at night. If urgent answers are needed, I suggest that all lights are turned off and politicians sent home at 8pm. Let them return at 6.30 next morning to make decisions after they have “slept on it”, as sensible people do. – Yours, etc,
LYDIA GILLEN,
Skerries,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – The recent Fennelly report has once again shown up the bizarre way in which important decisions are made in the running of this country. No notes or minutes of the relevant discussions and decisions were taken.
The same thing happened when the bank guarantee was being discussed and the most important financial decision ever made concerning this country was being finalised. What bothers people more is that different versions of events are then recalled by the parties involved.
It may seem a ridiculous suggestion, but given the ineptitude of the powers that be to govern in a modern and professional way, should legislation be enacted to require minutes to be taken and signed off for any important issue regarding the governance of this country? One of the penalties for failure to adhere to requirements would be that the relevant individuals would be barred from high office. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN CULLEN
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 16.
Sir, – It used to be the case that ordinary members of the general public had cause to worry if, when opening the front door in response to a knock, they found a member of An Garda Síochána standing outside.
Now it appears that members of our national police force have even greater reason to worry if their doorbell rings unexpectedly, particularly between the hours of 11pm and midnight.
The caller will probably be a senior official from the Department of Justice to whom has been delegated the sensitive task of delivering a message along the lines of, “The Taoiseach is not looking for your resignation but he has instructed me to inform you that he may not be able to express confidence in you at tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting”.
In conclusion, I would like to congratulate the Fennelly Commission on its revelation that Enda Kenny has a clear grasp of semantics and can differentiate between the terms an “expression of no confidence” and a “notice of dismissal”. – Yours, etc,
PAUL GULLY,
Clontarf,
Dublin 3.