Minister for Justice Michael McDowell and Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy have warned the Garda Representative Association (GRA) that they have no place interfering in politics.
In a serious escalation in the row over the Garda Reserve, Mr McDowell said "no Minister worth his salt" would capitulate to "threats" from the association.
He was reacting to the announcement by the GRA at its annual conference in Galway that it would run an election campaign against three Progressive Democrat and two Fianna Fáil deputies with narrow majorities if the Government did not back down on its plan to introduce the reserve.
Mr Conroy is seeking clarification from GRA leaders on their plans to run a political campaign and told them to meet him next week. Mr McDowell said any chance of him changing his mind on the reserve force was now "gone".
He said the leaders of the GRA had no mandate to involve themselves in the political process or to tell their members how to vote at a general election. "They have no particular skill in advising their members on those matters," he said. He was referring to GRA incoming president John Egan, outgoing president Dermot O'Donnell and general secretary PJ Stone.
Mr McDowell was not invited to address delegates but attended a function at the conference last night and spoke to reporters.
He believed a small number of people in the GRA's national executive were taking the organisation "down a political cul de sac". Most members were intelligent and would not be dictated to. The Garda Reserve was enshrined in the Garda Síochána Act. Gardaí could not ignore it.
"The Garda Commissioner has spoken in very affirmative terms and I stand behind him 100 per cent."
Mr Conroy said he was "angry and disappointed" with the GRA. He would take action if gardaí decided to embark on the "inappropriate and regrettable" political campaign. "When applicants join up to serve they swear to be apolitical and I cannot accept in any way any members of this Garda organisation becoming involved in politics."
When asked what sanction would apply if members embarked on the political campaign he said: "We will wait and see. But you can take it that I will not be sitting on the fence." He said the GRA national executive had no mandate "to say what they have said".
Mr McDowell is to meet the GRA and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors next week to discuss the deepening row.
Outgoing president Dermot O'Donnell said 70 per cent of the public were either related to a garda or knew a member of the force. This represented a sizeable group of voters in next year's general election. He believed asking full time gardaí to go on duty with reservists represented a health and safety risk to his members.
The GRA could use the Health and Safety Act to pursue this point in the courts and block the reserve force on safety grounds.
Mr McDowell said this was "legal nonsense". A recruiting campaign seeking applicants for the reserve would begin in the media in "late May or early June", he said. The first reservists would be working in the autumn.
Meanwhile, the annual report of An Garda Síochána for 2005, published yesterday, revealed a significant fall in the number of firearms seized last year. According to the annual report, 429 firearms were seized last year compared with 1,088 in 2004. A Garda spokesman said he believed the figures were wrong.
Checks were being conducted by gardaí last night. Clarification was also being sought by Mr McDowell.
The report also revealed the value of goods stolen was constant at €78 million in 2004 and 2005. However, property worth €5.7 million was recovered in 2004 compared with €3 million last year.
