Gardaí plan 'no further action' in 26 abuse investigations arising from Women of Honour review

TWENTY-SIX INVESTIGATIONS announced last year by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris into alleged abuse within the Defence Forces failed to progress and are no longer live, The Journal has confirmed.

Gardaí are now investigating a further tranche of alleged incidents of abuse, some of them historical, within the defence forces. These investigations number fewer than 10.

The 26 investigations in which no further action is planned arose from an independent review of dignity and equality in the defence forces. The Independent Review Group (IRG) report was on foot of allegations by the Women of Honour group of sexual assault, bullying and harassment within the military.

The IRG, chaired by judge Bronagh O’Hanlon, examined historical issues within the forces but also found that there has been an increase in bullying and harassment in the Defence Forces in the previous year. It made a series of recommendations including an oversight body and removing management of complaints from military officers.

Harris said in April 2023 that there were 26 cases of complaints of abuse in the Irish Defence Forces.

The Commissioner said then that gardaí had set up a specialist operation and had begun investigating incidents, adding “that there may be predators out there”.

Harris explained that gardaí had received reports dating back to the 1960s and that gardaí were compiling data and examining their own records.

The Commissioner said that an audit was carried out to determine how gardaí had dealt with historic reports and incidents from the Defence Forces.

Commissioner Drew Harris.

The Journal asked Drew Harris last week what was the progress in that audit and what was the current situation with garda investigations arising out of the IRG.

He said: “What we’ve done is we set up a specific reporting code, and we invited individuals who previously served in the Defense Forces to make a report to An Garda Síochána.

“We’ve received reports… but that is just ongoing work that’s been coordinated by our Protective Services Bureau but also involves all of our divisions,” he said.

The four regions of An Garda Síochána are divided up into 19 divisions and each division has its own protective services unit which is staffed by detectives specifically tasked with investigations of domestic violence and sexual crimes.

A reporting code is a garda method of having the reports in a group on the garda computer system PULSE so that it can be tracked.

The Journal asked An Garda Síochána for more granular details on the investigations. A statement revealed that the original 26 incidents that were identified in April 2023 have not progressed.

“Following the report of the Independent Review Group twenty-six existing incidents were identified. All incidents were reviewed by the Garda National Protective Service Bureau with no further action deemed necessary.

“Subsequently a number of incidents (fewer than 10) were reported to An Garda Síochána, some historical in nature and some occurring post-date the publication of the report. A number of these investigations are ongoing at this time,” a spokesperson said.

A tribunal arising out of the IRG to examine how the Defence Forces and Department of Defence handled complaints of bullying, harassment, and sexual misconduct began sitting last month.

Diane Byrne of the Women of Honour group, which represents people who have suffered abuse in the military, said she believes that there is a reticence of victims to come forward and cooperate with the garda investigations.

“I don’t believe the numbers are a true reflection of what is really going on. I think that there’s two different streams of investigation there – military and garda.

“The two different streams, and a lack of clarity around how they [the gardaí and military] interface with each other – historically it was always dissuaded that people would go to the guards rather than the military police.

“That has changed but how that actually manifests itself in what protections are in place for members of the Defence Forces, how this is happening is very unclear and that may be impacting on people coming forward,” she said.

Byrne said there needs to be a so-called “standard operating procedure” given to victims so they can understand the process.

Meanwhile sources have said that this week will be critical in the military’s internal dealings in the cases of Army Private Cathal Crotty and Petty Officer David O’Gorman – both given suspended sentences by now retired Limerick Circuit Criminal Court judge Tom O’Donnell for violent incidents in which the victim was a woman.

Internal defence forces disciplinary proceedings are underway in both cases.

Last week, Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Micheál Martin said a report from the Defence Forces had identified 68 serving members who are either convicted or before the courts for a range of offences from public order and road traffic incidents to assault and sexual offences.

It’s understood the report furnished to the Tánaiste comprises only cases known by the Defence Forces and there may be other cases that are unknown to the organisation.

A source familiar with the issue said that communications between the gardaí and the Defence Forces were “informal” in nature in parts of the State.

There are concerns within the Defence Forces hierarchy that if gardaí have omitted to report cases to the Defence Forces it is up to the member under scrutiny to do so – and they may not have alerted their commanding officer.