Garda Controversy Continues.

These garda stations got new equipment to record telephone calls in 2008

A tender specifies that the equipment installed must operate constantly, and be available for playback.

theJournal.ie 27/3/2014  

ALMOST TWO DOZEN garda stations had equipment installed or upgraded in 2008 that allowed phone calls and radio traffic to be recorded.

A tender from the period revealed a list of 21 stations around the country.

Independent TD Shane Ross said this morning that an investigation may take place in the awarding of this tender, worth €500,000.

“The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will have to look at the value for money in the systems, but there is a bigger issue of whether this recording was legal,” he said.

“Telecoms equipment”

“An Garda Siochana held a public tender in October 2007 for a range of telecoms, video and radio equipment,” a garda spokesperson said in a statement last night.

“An Garda Siochana is currently compiling a full report on the matters raised recently for the Minister for Justice and it wouldn’t be appropriate to comment further while that report is being compiled.”

The tender specifies a “Digital Logging Recorder System” for the playback of calls:

1.1. This specification is for a Digital Logging Recorder System which interfaces to An Garda Siochana’s present analog and digital communications systems. The proposed solution shall automatically record and instantly playback telephone calls and radio traffic from An Garda Siochana’s communications systems at the sites outlined in the following table. The proposed system shall be designed for fault tolerant and high availability environment (24 x 7, continuous duty operation).

1.2. Recording requirements are outlined in the following paragraphs and table. Instant  playback shall be provided at all management/playback workstations. The tenderer  will provide one management/playback workstation per site (including archive  sites) as per specification.

These were to be installed at the following stations:

       Garda Headquarters Phoenix Pk

       DMR Headquarters, Harcourt Sq., Dublin 2

       Anglesea Street, Cork

       Drogheda

       Castlebar

       Bandon

       Ennis

       Fermoy

       Henry St., Limerick

       Mill St., Galway

       Monaghan

       Mullingar

       Naas

       Portlaoise

       Roscommon

       Sligo

       Thurles

       Tralee

       Waterford

       Wexford

It also lists twenty locations where Dictaphone Guardian, a brand name of a recording system capable of holding 640 hours of audio per tape, were already installed.

Minister Shatter revealed yesterday that these were replaced by “NICE records”, believed to be NICE Systems Limited, an Israeli-based company which specialises in telephone voice recording, data security and surveillance as well as systems that analyse this recorded data.

The requirements for the replacement of this equipment includes the following line:

Due to the fact that currently archived calls may be required at a future date, tenderers shall also include a proposal for the playback of archived Guardian recordings.

These devices were installed at the following stations.

       Harcourt Square

       Angelesea Street

       Drogheda

       Castlebar

       Bandon

       Ennis

       Fermoy

       Henry St. Limerick

       Letterkenny

       Mill Street, Galway

       Monaghan

       Mullingar

       Naas

       Portlaoise

       Roscommon

       Sligo

       Thurles

       Tralee

       Waterford

       Wexford

Read the tender in full here

Read: Public Accounts Committee could investigate €500,000 Garda recording tenders >

GardaGate: Everything you need to know in one place >

JUSTICE MINISTER Alan Shatter should step aside to help renew public confidence in new policing structures, Sinn Féin Justice spokesperson Pádraig Mac Lochlainn TD told him during Wednesday’s Dáil emergency debate on the establishment of a Commission of Investigation into Garda illegal recordings of phone calls in Garda stations.

                                "Padraig MacLochlainn TD"

The debate follows the shock resignation of Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan after being visited by a top official in the Department of Justice on Monday night on the instructions of the Taoiseach. The Garda Commissioner was embroiled in an ongoing political and policing nightmare for the Government by his handling of the penalty points ‘fixing’ exposed by Garda whistleblowers. This included his description to the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee of the whistleblowers’ actions as “disgusting” and his now-notorious refusal of Mary Lou McDonald’s invitation to him at the PAC to reconsider his strong words.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn told the Dáil on Wednesday that a succession of bad decisions by the Justice Minister, supported by the Fine Gael/Labour Government, “and intended to obstruct proper scrutiny of policing, have done untold damage to public confidence in the administration of justice and to An Garda Síochána”.

In a lengthy examination of the Justice Minister’s record, the Donegal deputy said:

“Minister, by your actions; through your dysfunctional relationship with the Garda Commissioner, and by your failure to deal properly and effectively with a series of highly-charged and important issues, you have undermined public confidence in the position of Minister for Justice, in the Department of Justice, in An Garda Síochána and in the administration of justice.

“And the appointment of a Commission of Investigation on the Garda taping of phone calls will not assuage public concern given the level of public distrust that now exists.

“I welcome the fact that the Government has now indicated a belated conversion to the need for a fully accountable, independent Garda Authority. However, the minister who will have responsibility for overseeing this process is the very minister who has been at the heart of all of the recent scandals.

“Minister, there is an opportunity for a step change, a new beginning, in policing, in policing structures and the administration of justice in this state – an opportunity to get politicians out of policing matters.

“To be successful, a new beginning to policing in this state needs a new Minister for Justice.

“The Taoiseach has said he will not ask you to resign. That is a mistake.

“But perhaps you could on this occasion take the right decision and, like your friend Martin Callinan, resign.

“Minister, there is widespread public support for An Garda Siochána.

“The service has unique, deep-rooted connections into local communities, connections which the Government is actively dismantling through its policy of closing Garda stations.

“But there is a culture of bad administration, a lack of accountable and oversight mechanisms and transparency.

“This culture – which smacks of cronyism, elitism and the corrosive, corruptive relationship with the elites – is now evident in other institutions of the state and which the government pledged to root out.

“It is a culture that betrays the sacrifice and integrity of rank and file gardaí.

“It is a culture that was evident in the failure to properly investigate cases like those of Fr. Molloy; or the Dublin Monaghan bombings.

It is a culture that stems, to a large degree, from the fact that, for many years, the legal, judicial and policing system in this state was allowed by political leaders to become an adjunct of British counter-insurgency strategy in the North.

“This resulted in special non-jury courts, a ‘Heavy Gang’ within the Garda who brutalised people in custody, serious miscarriages of justice and wrongful convictions and the abandonment of the principle that all citizens, including suspects held in Garda custody must have rights in our justice system.

“It is also evident in the Kerry Babies case; in the behaviour of some Garda in Donegal that was exposed by the Morris Tribunal; in the oppressive regime imposed on communities in Rossport in the Taoiseach’s own constituency; and in the Kieran Boylan affair, where senior Garda protected a drug smuggler.

“It was evident in the failure to properly investigate murders like that of Eddie Fullerton.

“There is now an opportunity to change this.

“That means creating an independent, accountable and transparent Garda Authority.

“Sinn Féin welcomes the Government’s belated conversion to the necessary reform but it is worth noting that neither Fine Gael or Labour put it in the Programme for Government.

“No police service, no senior police officer and no Garda Commissioner should be solely accountable to a politician no matter who that is.

“The Garda Commissioner should be fully accountable to that authority, as should joint policing committees, and all of that should be accountable to the Oireachtas.

“Minister, policing in this state has been for too long locked into structures that obstruct the building of a modern 21st century, accountable policing service.

“Play your part in building it by stepping aside and helping to encourage renewed public confidence in new policing structures.”

Sinn Féin Mountmellick – Serving The Community

 

Irish Political Establishment Fears the Irish Diaspora??.

Column: Why has the Government ignored the Irish diaspora – again?

theJournal.ie 26/3/2014

The timeframe for the Government to respond to the recommendations of the Constitutional Convention regarding the voting rights of Irish abroad has elapsed, write Oliver Moran and Sarah Cantwell.

LAST NIGHT, British royalty held a reception for the Irish in Britain in celebration for their contribution to the life of the United Kingdom. The reception was held as part of the lead-up to the state visit of President Higgins in April.

There is a strange irony that this reception was held on the evening that the Government here showed the same people the cold shoulder. Yesterday should have been the day that the Government announced the extension of voting rights to the Irish abroad. How ironic that the British should recognise the value of the Irish diaspora to them on the same evening we ignore them here one again.

On November 26, the Constitutional Convention recommended that a referendum be held on extend voting rights in Presidential elections to Irish citizens in Northern Ireland and to Irish emigrants abroad. That was four months ago today, meaning the Government has let the recommendation go without responding to it in the timeframe it set out for itself.

The Oireachtas resolution that established the Convention gave a four-month timeframe for the Government to respond to each recommendation. That was an important provision. Its inclusion was to ensure that reports of the Convention weren’t left to gather dust like so many reports before them. It was particularly important for reports of the Constitutional Convention because the Convention was made up of 66 ordinary citizens who gave up their time for no personal reward and engaged in good faith with politicians in a process of deliberation.

It’s important for us all because the question of voting rights for the Irish abroad is one that touches at the very core of what it means to be a citizen and how we see ourselves in our democracy.

Our democratic revolution

It was perhaps with a sense of naivety that the authors of the Programme for Government called the general election of 2011 a “democratic revolution”. But that is what happened. Not in the ballot box but in an on-going process of change in the public mind.

The human and financial cost of the financial crisis — and the realisation that ultimately we will be left holding the can for mismanagement of the State — has caused us to rethink what the State is and the scope of control and visibility we have over it.

This rethinking can be seen in goings on such as the Constitutional Convention. For example, another recommendation of the Constitutional Convention (one that the Government has left unanswered since August last year) is to introduce a means for citizens to propose legislation and call referendums directly. The action plan from the Open Government Partnership to make government more transparent and accessible is another example.

Where does votes for the Irish abroad fit into this?

By our own words and actions, we acknowledge the contributions and interest the Irish abroad have in the State. When the crisis began to pinch, we were quick to look to the diaspora for a helping hand through the shakedown of the Gathering and the Global Irish Economic Forum. Famously, we are happy to wear the green and shuffle up to Irish communities around the world on St. Patrick’s Day for the access they give us to political and business leaders around the world.

If the crisis has taught us to appreciate a fuller understanding of what it is to be a citizens and what it means to be engaged in the democratic life of our State, we cannot continue to see our relationship with the diaspora in narrow and ad hoc terms. The fullness of the People who form the State and who put their shoulders behind it must be acknowledged.

Moreover, the returned spectre of emigration has reminded us that an interest in the management of the State doesn’t end when a person departs from Dublin or Shannon. Sadly, once again, we all know people forced to emigrate through an economic necessity brought upon them by government mismanagement. Their interest the in State and in its recover, so that they may some day return, cannot be said to be anything less than genuine.

That they are gone, for now, is bad enough. Is it really necessary that they must be shut out too?

Moderate recommendation

The recommendation of the Constitutional Convention is very moderate. While other countries give nationals abroad voting rights in law-making bodies, the Convention recommended only that Irish citizens in Northern Ireland and the Irish abroad should be given voting rights in Presidential elections.

The President is the only office of State directly elected by all of the People. The President promulgates all laws on behalf of the People and receives foreign diplomats and figures as the head of the Nation. As such, the Convention’s recommendation can be viewed as one step in a journey towards a fuller acknowledgement of a more engaging idea of Irish citizenship and of the place of the global Irish community among our nation.

In the early stages of that journey, do the Irish abroad not deserve an answer from the Government to the Convention’s recommendations? Or will the Government repeat the old pattern of neglect and discount? Are we happy to leave it to others to acknowledge their contributions and for us to take from them only when it suits?

Oliver Moran is the founder of Second Republic, a non-partisan organisation campaigning for political reform since 2010. Second Republic campaigned for the establishment of the Constitutional Convention. He lives in Cork. (www.2nd-republic.ie)

Sarah Cantwell is a member of Votes for Irish Citizens Abroad (VICA) and also Second Republic’s Irish-abroad spokesperson. VICA was formed by members of London’s Irish community calling for the right of Irish citizens abroad to vote in elections in the Republic of Ireland. Sarah is an Irish emigrant in London. (www.vica.ie)

Sinn Féin Mountmellick – Serving The Community

Support Matt Carthy's Petition To Repeal "Fine Gael/Labour Party Government" Sneaky Stealth Tax Increase

From: Matt Carthy 4MEP ‪<mattcarthy4mep@gmail.com>

Date: Mon, Mar 24, 2014 at 4:29 PM

Subject: Stop the May 1st Carbon Tax increase petition 

Hi,
I wanted to draw your attention to this important petition that I recently set up:

"Stop the May 1st Carbon Tax increase

Click on the link below.

"
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/stopthecarbontaxincrease

The purpose of the petition is to put pressure on the government to halt their plans to increase the carbon tax which will put an extra €1.20 on the price of a bag of coal, costing jobs and increasing fuel poverty. Please sign and share as wide as possible.

It's free and takes just a few seconds of your time.Thanks!

Sinn Féin Mountmellick - Serving The Community