Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said there was a need to address why Gerry Hutch won 3,096 first preference votes, despite being the alleged head of a crime gang.
The 61-year-old, known as “The Monk” narrowly missed out in the four-seater Dublin Central constituency after being beaten on the eleventh count by Labour’s Marie Sherlock.
He is currently on €100,000 bail from a Spanish court which is officially investigating him for alleged money laundering.
Speaking at the attestation of 169 new gardai at Templemore Garda College in Tipperary yesterday, Commissioner Harris said: “The motives of why people may have voted for him are not clear to me.
“But I do think there’s something that has to be addressed in terms of those 3,000 votes.
“Because we live in a liberal democracy, the rule of law and people should have respect then for the State, the constitution and the rule of law within that.
“I think there’s something there around the communication to people around being a citizen in society and what it means in terms of responsibilities placed on them.
“I don’t think anybody could have been ignorant of Gerard Hutch and all he’s been associated with down through the years.
“So I don’t think it’s a problem of information. I do think it’s a problem, not just for An Garda Siochana, it’s a societal problem about our attitude towards criminality.
“And I think overall that’s the most concerning thing in this.”
Simon Harris, who also attended the ceremony, added: “I think for those of us in politics, I think we do need to reflect on the disaffection that sometimes people can feel from the political system, and sometimes that communities can feel from the political system.
“But the other point is he didn’t get elected. Our democracy didn’t elect a convicted criminal in the guise of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch to Dail Eireann, and I think that is a good thing.
“I think disaffection is a big issue. I always think it’s very arrogant of a politician to tell the public why they went out and voted that way – that is for the people of Ireland.
“But I do believe that we must continue to do more in terms of engaging with communities that sometimes feel disconnected and disaffected from the political system or indeed from the State more generally.”
He said that North Inner City Taskforce and the Community Safety Partnerships were among the initiatives already under way to try to address this, but added “the work is not yet done”.
Asked about the commissioner’s concerns, Mr Harris said: “The commissioner’s job and the job of An Garda Siochana is to continue to tighten the net on criminality in this country, and I’m sure that is where their focus will be.
“The focus of those of us in government will be on supporting the gardai in doing that job, making sure those who engage in criminal activity are where they belong and that is not in the Dail.”
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