It is deplorable that Finian McGrath, a junior minister with a seat at the Cabinet table, has given credence to these fables and gone a step further by suggesting that gardaí are trying to undermine the law by applying it too rigorously so as to turn public opinion against it.
The figures show that the widely believed legend of a massive increase in the number of people being detected over the limit on their way to work, or on the way to Mass on Sundays, since the drink driving law was updated, has no basis in fact. File photograph: Frank Miller What makes McGrath’s comments all the more reprehensible is that he is an Independent Alliance colleague of Minister for Transport, who introduced the new stricter drink-driving regime. Instead of accepting responsibility for the updated law McGrath sought to deflect criticism of it by blaming gardaí for over-zealous implementation of the measure.
Minister of State for Disability Issues Finian McGrath: Comments beggar belief. Photograph: Gareth Chaney/ Collins That a parliamentarian and a Minister should criticise gardaí for allegedly interfering in politics when they are simply doing their duty, and implementing a law promoted by his cabinet colleague and passed by the