Crime writer Paul Williams told the Wider View today that he has concerns around the leadership of Garda Commissioner Drew Harris because of his association with the PSNI.
Mr Williams was speaking about the 100th anniversary of An Garda Siochana and the changes that have occurred with the organisation since its inception in 1922.
He said that while it is regarded as a police force ‘of the people’, as an organisation it found itself in the midst of "absolute chaos" throughout the 1970s and 1980s when an upsurge in terrorist paramilitary violence resulted in armed robberies, murders and a determination by the IRA to undermine the State.
The troubles, he added, alongside the chaos that went on at the time gave rise to "a very negative and unofficial culture" within a group of members of An Garda Siochana - The Heavy Gang.
The gang are now, what he described as an "appalling memory and indictment" of the way in which the group dealt with ordinary decent people.
The relationship between An Garda Siochana and the community it serves is now breaking down, Mr Williams said.
