asked the Minister for Justice if he is aware that in the district of Cloghan, Offaly, there is a general refusal to obey the instructions of the local Garda sergeant and that articles have appeared in the local papers in regard to this matter, and whether, in view of the seriousness of the situation which inter alia sets a bad example for other areas where cooperation between the people and the Gardaí prevails, he will state what he proposes to do in the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Position of Offaly Garda Sergeant.
I informed the Deputy, in reply to a question on 15th November, I have received no complaints about the situation in Cloghan. I have made inquiries from the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána, and he informs me that there do not appear to be any grounds for the Deputy's allegations.
Is it not a fact that in the public Press circulating in County Offaly the sergeant of the Guards in Cloghan was described as Texas Dan and Hopalong Cassidy? Is that in accordance with the manner in which an officer of the Garda should be styled?
There was a poem published in the Press and it is not all about the sergeant at all but some of the people there.
The sergeant.
It is about some of the people there and from the Deputy's method of asking questions, it would be hard to distinguish whether it is the sergeant or the Deputy that is Hopalong Cassidy.
It was the sergeant, not the Deputy.
Might I suggest that that particular poem be included in the official record?
I think "Texas Dan" would be the best.
I want to make sure that the Gardaí are not slandered in any way. According to the report of the Commissioner, there is no question of any internal dispute whatever in the Garda station.
Why was Garda Robinson removed then?
If the Minister for Justice is so keen about preventing slander, he should not have encouraged Deputy Flanagan in slandering before. He is only carrying on what he was encouraged to do.
If Deputy Flanagan took a lesson out of your book, he would slander a good bit.
And a bad book it is.
I would remind Deputy Flanagan that his interruptions have a cumulative effect.