DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS WERE taken against a garda after an intruder gained access to Áras an Uachtaráin and spoke to President Michael D Higgins in “an aggressive manner”.

Details of the case have been outlined in the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc) annual report for 2020, which includes case studies of the complaints it investigated last year.

The person drove through the gates of Áras an Uachtaráin without being challenged shortly before 5:30pm on 14 September 2018.

They entered the president’s residence through the front door and tried a number of interior doors before happening upon the President’s study.

According to the report, President Higgins opened the door of his study and was confronted by the intruder, who spoke to him aggressively.

The intruder was in the Áras for around three minutes before the President went to call for assistance and the person left. They went back to their car and left through the gate, again without being challenged.

Gsoc began an investigation into the incident after it was reported in the media in 2018 that there had been a security breach at Áras an Uachtaráin. 

The probe found that the gate had been left open to allow electricians, who were working on lighting just outside the gate, frequent access a fuse box inside the gate.

The garda on duty at the time of the incident, referred to in the report as ‘Garda B’, was away from the gate because he had noticed that internal doors in the adjacent lodge were banging from the breeze.

“He decided to go and close the doors, an action which took a few seconds,” the report notes. “He heard a car on the gravel as he was in the lodge and began to make his way back to the gate.”

The officer assumed that the driver of the car was a member of staff because their car was similar to another staff member’s vehicle, so the intruder was let through.

“Less than ten minutes later, the same car drove back down the avenue and the driver had a hand raised as if in greeting,” the report said.

“The gate was still open as the workers were still there. Garda B acknowledged the driver who then drove out the gate.”

One of the President’s aides then rang the phone in the lodge, asking if a blue car had just left the grounds.

The aide said that a person had just come into the Áras and had confronted the President and wanted to know who had let the person in.

The investigation found that Garda B had neglected his duty and he was subject to a monetary sanction.

“His failure to conduct a diligent enquiry into the vehicle and its occupant and failure to alert the main house at Áras an Uachtaráin of the vehicle, compromised the safety of the President and Áras an Uachtaráin,” the report reads.

The annual report reveals that Gsoc received 3,089 allegations against members of the force in 2020.

A total of 1,955 complaints against gardaí were opened and 1,724 complaints were closed. The document notes that 19 protected disclosures were also made during the same period.

There were 572 criminal investigations launched by Gsoc in 2020, while 26 public interest investigations were also opened, which are undertaken without the submission of a complaint or direction from the Garda Commissioner.

The report notes that Gardaí made 43 referrals for Gsoc’s consideration in instances where “the conduct of a member of the Garda Síochána may have resulted in the death of, or serious harm to a person”.