The Director of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) Mr Donncha O'Connell has asked the Garda Síochána Complaints Board to resign in the wake of the publication yesterday of its annual report for 1999. Mr O'Connell told ireland.com: "There is little point in this body publishing an annual catalogue of complaints which have not been adequately addressed with a predictable whinge about lack of power and resources.
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"It is clear beyond doubt that the current Minister for Justice does not care about the board's repeatedly expressed concerns and is quite happy to maintain a sham system of police accountability.
l "His inaction is gratuitously offensive to the board and damaging to the police. They should now force his hand by resigning en bloc."
The Minister for said in a statement he accepted that current arrangements for dealing with complaints against gardaí were "not satisfactory and need to be revised and strengthened."
Mr O'Donoghue said the matter is being addressed under a major review he is carrying out. He added that he is looking into the possibility of establishing a new Inspectorate for the gardaí.
Mr O'Connell said he had nothing personal against the board members but there was a precedent for such protest by a State-appointed body with the resignations from the Legal Aid Board in 1989 in protest at lack of resources provided by the then Minister for Justice Mr Burke.
This action led eventually to the passing of the Civil Legal Aid Act and the placing of the legal aid scheme on a statutory footing, Mr O'Connell said.
"Public confidence in the Garda Síochána has been eroded by the cumulative impact of such cases as the shooting of John Carthy at Abbeylara and the many unanswered questions in the Dean Lyons and McBrearty cases," said Mr O'Connell.
"The system of police accountability in this country has been repeatedly criticised by international bodies such as the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and the UN Human Rights Committee and successive governments have simply failed to respond to such criticisms," he claimed.
Mr O'Connell also said while the Government continues to press for police reform in Northern Ireland and the full implementation of the Patten Report it maintains a "failed and discredited system of police accountability in the Republic.
"This is an appalling double-standard and is exacerbated by the Minister's rejection of all reasonable proposals for reform in this part of the island," he said.
