Interest in the alternative's document was then further diluted with the release of the Moriarty Report. Still, the proposals from the two opposition parties deserve consideration, especially as they are by far the most mainstream of their string of recent joint position papers.

Little of the recent Fine Gael bootboy sentiments on criminal justice feature.

Indeed, the document benefits from the moderate tone of the various proposals, including improved community policing and the establishment of a new independent garda authority.

The Labour influence is apparent in the section proposing "a dedicated recruitment campaign in communities that are currently poorly represented or lack visibility within the garda�?". It is not clear how the two parties propose to get a positive discrimination recruitment policy past the various representative associations, but they are suggesting more garda�? from socially deprived urban communities, immigrants, travellers and the gay community.