On Halloween night two years ago in Swords, north Dublin, a group of teenagers were drinking on the streets. A garda patrol car pulled up and the officers got out and told them to move along. "F*** off and go home," one of the gardaí allegedly told the youngsters when they talked back to the officers. Suitably reprimanded, they all duly went home. But one of the teenagers told his parents about the encounter and they took exception to the garda's coarse language. They made a complaint to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC), which launched an investigation. But like a significant proportion of garda ombudsman probes, it was handed over to the gardaí to investigate the incident. In the main, when complaints of a disciplinary nature are made against gardaí, GSOC asks a superintendent to look into it while complaints of a more serious and criminal nature are generally solely investigated by the ombudsman's office.

It took several weeks for gardaí to track down the teenagers who had been drinking that night in Swords. They did so in a bid to try and identify the offending garda. They interviewed all the parents of the youngsters and, except for the family that made the complaint, all were happy gardaí had ordered their children home that night. Soon it was established which garda had sworn at the youngsters. He couldn't remember using that language but accepted that it may have happened as it was a busy and stressful night that Halloween, with plenty of anti-social behaviour on the streets. "He was disciplined internally but nothing that would remain on his permanent record. A lot of hours were put into that case. Of course, offensive language is not acceptable but we are deeply frustrated by the sheer volume of minor complaints we have to investigate ourselves," said a garda source. "We have our own investigations without having to take on the garda ombudsman's too."

In another incident, a woman well-known to gardaí both for shoplifting and mental health issues made a complaint that a garda stabbed her.

This woman has been detained several times at city centre garda stations for shoplifting, usually from upmarket stores like Brown Thomas. She is known by gardaí to keep razor blades on her person. On several occasions while in garda custody, she has cut herself with razor blades she has smuggled into cells, often in her underwear. The woman is well-known at Dublin hospitals for her repeated self-harming, though none of her injuries have ever been serious.

"Instead of doing a few background checks with the hospitals on this woman, they immediately launched an investigation. It is clear this woman has mental health problems," said a separate garda source. "It's a serious allegation and of course they should investigate these things, but sometimes the manner in which they go about it is all wrong. Sometimes they should use more common sense."

Major criticism

Garda opposition to the institution whose role it is to investigate complaints against its members is hardly surprising. When GSOC began in March 2007, it promised to be an independent body that would investigate alleged misconduct by members of the force. But three years on, its independence has been called into question by politicians, gardaí and members of the public. Another major criticism levelled at it is the length of time it takes to investigate both minor and major complaints. Its first public interest inquiry into the death of Terence Wheelock in garda custody began in July 2007 and was only completed more than two and a half years later in March of this year. But the role of the garda ombudsman was always going to be fraught with difficulties and complications.

From the outset, it was met with strong opposition from gardaí. GSOC replaced the highly controversial garda complaints board, criticised as highly prejudiced and flawed because it wasn't independent of the force. In April 2008, incoming Garda Representative Association (GRA) president Michael O'Boyce accused the body of "blundering incompetence", saying it potentially compromised a garda investigation by the manner in which it carried out searches of garda lockers at Roxboro Road station in Limerick. The garda ombudsman was quick to hit back: "I'm amused by Michael O'Boyce's comments," GSOC spokesman Kieran Fitzgerald said. "I think it sets a very unfortunate tone for his tenure as president of the GRA. To suggest that in some way evidence was tampered with in a manner that wasn't appropriate is not appropriate in my opinion."

Relations between the ombudsman's office and members of the force have improved somewhat. They are also kept busy. When gardaí discharge a firearm in the course of their duties – as was the case on Friday when a man brandishing a loaded shotgun threatened to shoot the owner of the Mo Chuisle pub in Cork – GSOC launch an investigation.

"The relationship has settled down into a professional and productive one," said Fitzgerald. "We have settled into reasonably regular dialogue with gardaí. They realise we have a job to do." But while gardaí have accepted GSOC is here to stay, senior gardaí are increasingly frustrated at the number of complaints it 'kicks back' to gardaí to investigate themselves.

"It's an important instrument of democracy. These complaints should be investigated impartially. But if GSOC had an army it still couldn't investigate all these complaints, so they are being farmed out to us. But wasn't that exactly what the public didn't want to happen – the gardaí investigating the gardaí?" asked a senior garda source. "We'd rather not, believe me. Their own investigations take far too long in my view. The general public wouldn't like it if we were as slow at investigating crime as they are with their inquiries." Another garda took an even harsher view: "They make a mountain out of a molehill to justify their existence. Relatively minor issues are investigated for months. They're very inefficient in my view."

In 2008, 50% of complaints (638) to GSOC were referred from the ombudsman to gardaí to investigate themselves, unsupervised. In the other half of cases (643), the complaints were solely investigated by the ombudsman's office. It's not unreasonable that the ombudsman does not have the manpower to investigate every single complaint independently, but this does not sit well with the general public. It has four serving superintendents seconded to its office under the terms of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, which prompted the two main justice opposition TDs to recently question its independence and request an immediate explanation. "The basis of the ombudsman commission is it was totally independent. I would hope it's not compromised by virtue of garda involvement," Charlie Flanagan recently told the Sunday Tribune. "I have not seen any evidence to suggest that it is. But there is now a perception that their independence has been questioned because of this."

One person who made a recent complaint to GSOC was surprised to be informed in correspondence from the ombudsman's office that the representative from the ombudsman's office to oversee a serious discipline complaint against two gardaí was a serving superintendent. "How is that independent?" the woman, who asked to remain anonymous, asked. "It can't possibly be as far as I'm concerned."

A culture of accountability

But in some circumstances, requesting the gardaí to investigate themselves is appropriate and has purpose, explained GSOC's Kieran Fitzgerald. "It's designed to engender a culture of accountability within An Garda Síochána. At any stage, we can also take these investigations back from gardaí and there is also an appeal mechanism for people who have made complaints." He agreed that some investigations do take considerable time to complete but said the backlog of complaints waiting to be evaluated had almost been eliminated. "We want to be thorough and accurate. The investigation process can take a long time. But it's better to be thorough than rushed."

In its wildest imaginings, GSOC could never be accused of rushing its inquiries. After two-and-a-half years, it cleared gardaí of any wrongdoing in connection with the death of 20-year-old Terence Wheelock, who was found unconscious in his police cell after he attempted to hang himself. The investigation also found that allegations Wheelock had been sexually assaulted were without foundation. The Wheelock family are deeply unhappy with the findings of the commission's investigation and are continuing to pursue a public inquiry as they say the ombudsman's probe was carried out behind closed doors.

Its second public interest investigation was launched into the death of pensioner Mary Seavers, who was killed by an out-of-control garda car in Goatstown, Dublin, in 2005. GSOC was asked to investigate the circumstances of the death in November 2007 but did not make a decision to proceed with an inquiry until eight months later in August 2008. At an inquest into the pensioner's death in 2006 the driver of the patrol car, garda Niamh Seberry, and front-seat passenger garda Lisa Healy from Donnybrook station, both insisted the car had not been speeding. This directly contradicted the findings of a garda investigation that concluded speed was the sole cause of the accident. "The investigation is taking a long time," David Seavers told the Sunday Tribune. "But it has been a thorough investigation into my mother's death to date. We have had an update recently and we are happy with the progress. We believe it vindicates our original complaint."

GSOC has three other public interest investigations underway. The most serious concerns allegations of an improper relationship between a convicted drug dealer and senior gardaí. Its probe into the circumstances surrounding the dropping of drug trafficking charges against Kieran Boylan from Ardee in Co Louth was launched in 2008 and it most likely will not be completed for another two years.

The importance of having a body such as the garda ombudsman to independently investigate serious issues of criminality within the garda force is unquestionable. While some serious investigations are underway, GSOC has yet to uncover any 'smoking gun' of garda corruption. Some individual gardaí are under investigation for selling intelligence to criminal gangs. GSOC and gardaí are both investigating these incidents separately, but none of these allegations were unearthed by GSOC.

Four former garda detectives left the force to join the garda ombudsman soon after it was founded. Some of the other investigators are former police detectives from Northern Ireland, England, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, the US and Slovakia.

"With the team the ombudsman has, there was anticipation that there would be some major findings against gardaí," said a garda source. "That hasn't happened. It hasn't found any culture of institutionalised corruption within the gardaí."