Independent Councillor for the Stranorlar Electoral Area Cllr Frank McBrearty, has today criticised recent remarks made by some election candidates concerning justice and policing as both ‘strategic and opportunistic’. 
The Independent Councillor made the comments after it emerged that a number of election candidates have, this week, publicly voiced concern over the current crisis in both An Garda Síochána and the Department of Justice.
This comes in the wake of the publication of the Guerin Report, as well as the resignation of former Justice Minister, Alan Shatter.
McBrearty told Donegal Daily, “It’s ironic, what with elections only around the corner, that some election candidates now feel the need to come out publicly about the apparent concerns they have with regards to the current situation which exists among Gardaí and the justice system in this country.
“I can’t understand where they were up until this point!
“The fact that they have decided to come out now and highlight the issues within our justice system yet have – up until this point – been deafly silent over these issues, only highlights the strategic and opportunistic nature with which these comments were made.
Referring to his own struggle against Garda corruption and injustice, Cllr McBrearty said that as far as matters pertaining to malpractice and shortcomings within the Irish justice system were concerned, no one has been as outspoken and unyielding in their pursuit of calling for the immediate overhauling of justice in the state than himself.
He continued by saying that now, with elections only days away, the fact that election candidates suddenly feel compelled to highlight this issue is simply self-serving and deeply insensitive to those whom –like he and his family –have personally suffered as a result of these failures within the justice system.
“I’ve been calling for radical reforms within the justice system in Ireland for years, everyone knows this. My family and I, as well as numerous other people in this country, have profoundly suffered as a result of thesesystemic failures and deficiencies – that is wrong.
“What’s also wrong is that now, coming up to election time, certain candidates have chosen to monopolies on these various scandals and miscarriages of justice, in which decent people have been implicated, simply for their own political gain – have these people no moral compass?
Councillor McBrearty went on to say that the findings of the Guerin Report, which was published last week, has further highlighted the many inadequacies which currently exist within the Irish justice system.
The Councillor also said that the rights of every Irish citizen must now be protected and that these rights must be central to any reforms which are carried out.
McBrearty concluded, “The current Justice system is clearly broken and this is evident from the multitude of scandals which have been exposed dating back to the 1970s.
“After the conclusion of the Morris tribunal in 2008 we were promised radical reforms – nearly five years later, these reforms have still to happen.
“We as a nation need to be reassured that the radical reforms needed are implemented, this is to ensure that the scales of Justice are once again evenly balanced, and that all rights of Irish people are protected under a new and modern Justice system.
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