In Garda Headquarters in the Phoenix Park, Assistant Commissioner Eugene Corcoran, the man who previously ran the Criminal Assets Bureau, is co-ordinating a national emergency plan of a kind never seen before in Ireland: how to secure and police the country in the event of around 12,800 rank and file gardai, sergeants and inspectors going on strike.
The unprecedented planned mass withdrawal of service has the potential to cause incalculable chaos, to seriously expose the security of the State, and threatens the safety of its citizens.
Unless talks this weekend avert it, the strike will run over four Fridays in November, running for 24 hours from 7am, beginning on Friday.
The Garda Representative Association (GRA) and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) want their pay restored to pre-austerity levels and the right to negotiate pay deals for their members - they are currently barred from doing so and it is also illegal for them to strike.
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They say they are a special case - different to other public sector workers because of the risk to life and health that comes with their job description - and have snubbed the existing public sector pay mechanism, Lansdowne Road.
As talks drag on, some government ministers and senior gardai said privately that a garda strike simply couldn't happen.
Hopes were bolstered on Friday, when the Garda Representative Association agreed to talks with Department of Justice officials, mediated by the Workplace Relations Commission. The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors followed suit, having initially said its members were offered nothing worth talking about.
Talks begin in earnest today and will continue tomorrow. The talks are said to be extremely "sensitive". But planning for this potential security crisis is also delicate. Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald has refused to talk about contingency planning, saying the focus must be on reaching a deal.
According to one source, talking about contingency plans might "spook" the pay talks.
Feverish talks on contingency planning have been going on below the radar for weeks now. The talks have involved senior garda management, the Courts Service, airports and ports, the prison service, right down to security for VIPs, including Taoiseach Enda Kenny and President Michael D Higgins.
The AGSI and the GRA have been asked to supply personnel for a skeletal contingency policing plan. So far, only the GRA has coughed up, agreeing to provide derogations for members of the armed response units, and technical officers.
According to sources, garda management circulated a document last week to both associations listing their priority policing areas in which they will be seeking further derogations.
The national contingency plan will detail the policing priorities. A draft plan has been drawn up. Activating it is the "nuclear option" according to one source.
If the GRA and AGSI do not call off or curtail the withdrawal of service next Friday, the national contingency plan will have to be activated by Tuesday at the latest. Once the plan is activated, the AGSI and GRA will come under enormous pressure from senior garda management to give sufficient free passes to their members so the number of gardai will match the number needed to provide a minimum policing cover.
Senior Garda management say that without substantial derogations for members, policing the State would simply be unworkable.
Failing that, senior managers have considered ordering gardai to report for duty, or face the disciplinary consequences. These are some of the policing priorities:
Airports and ports
Airports could be forced to shut down on the four strike days. If they remain open, it is likely that the authorities will have to restrict the number of incoming flights.
Ports don't have a permanent garda presence, and so are expected to remain open but with additional deployments of customs officials.
Courts
Courts may not close, but ongoing criminal trials may be disrupted and rafts of other courts could be adjourned. If a garda is summonsed to appear as a witness on a strike day, he or she will have to show up or risk contempt of court. Criminal cases and some District Court cases are likely to be adjourned.
How many gardai will be working on strike days?
If the strike goes ahead, about 220 senior officers will be responsible for policing the country. The GRA has agreed derogations for the armed garda support units - the Emergency Response Units and the six Regional Support Units. Technical officers will be on standby. Add to that around 700 probationary gardai, and some of the 800-strong Garda Reserve force to be shared out between every garda division. Even at that, there are limits to the duties they can perform; civilian reservists can only go on patrol in the company of a qualified guard, for instance.
One senior garda source said these numbers are simply not enough to ensure the security of the State. In one Midlands garda division, a force of five senior officers and 20 probationary gardai would be responsible for policing two counties in the event of a strike.
What happens in the event of a serious crime?
Emergencies will be prioritised with life-threatening and violent crimes. In every division, crimes such as murders, suspicious deaths, serious assaults and aggravated burglaries involving threats to safety will be top of the list.
How are Gardai preparing on the ground?
Chiefs in a number of divisions are prioritising security needs.
Briefings have been held with local enterprises. Pubs and nightclubs are being advised to take on extra security personnel; Friday nights are among the worst for public order offences. Some divisional chiefs have recently sent probationary gardai to complete the two-day driving courses that qualifies them to drive patrol cars.
Road traffic accidents and drink-driving
The aim is for each division to have forensic road traffic investigations, on standby. Patrols and checkpoints will be severely curtailed, if non-existent in some divisions.
Sunday Independent
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