Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

What supports or assistance did the Department give to the holding of the Garda Representative Association, GRA, conference in 2020? As we know, the event took place during the pandemic when practically nothing was happening anywhere in the country. I have a letter to the Minister from Jim Mulligan, the former president of the GRA, in which he expressed concerns that unofficial lobbying had been done by some members of the GRA's central executive committee to have a conference take place. By everyone's standards, this was unnecessary at the time and put people at risk. In late November, the Department's attitude was that the conference could not and should not happen, but it changed its mind in that regard. There are serious concerns that a lot of lobbying was done, both in respect of the Minister and others, to make this happen when it was totally inappropriate.

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