An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir March 2017 www.dfmagazine.ie 16 | BReAkINg RANks The Birth of PDFORRA by COL SHAY DUFFY (RETD) breaking Ranks is published by The History Press Ireland in october 2016. ISbN: 978-1845885151 – priced €16.20 www.thehistorypress.ie col shay Duffy (retd) is a former presi- dent of the Representative Association of commissioned Officers (RAcO), and was engaged in negotiations during the very turbulent days of the emergence of representative bodies within the Defence Forces. here he gives us an insight into the new book, 'Breaking Ranks: the shaping of civil-military relations in Ireland' by michael martin on the formation of the permanent Defence Forces Other Ranks Representative Association (pDFORRA). Former Defence Forces member Michael Martin is to be congratulated on writing this book, in which he comprehensively analyses and recalls the events surround- ing the introduction of representation to the Defence Forces in 1990. These were traumatic times for the individuals involved and for the State institutions, civil and military, which grappled with the issues as they sought to address the great- est challenge to the Defence Forces since its foundation. The book is both a socio- logical study, derived from the author's doctrinal thesis, and a history of those events by one of the participants. As a sociological study, it argues and proves three fundamental truths: PDFOR- RA brought about representation in the Defence Forces; the process fundamentally changed the civil-military relationship in the State; and the process fundamen- tally changed the Defence Force's management structure but not its command structure. The book charts the unfolding events from the impact of the National Army Spouses Association (NASA) in 1988 to the adoption of representation in the Defence Act 1990 and to the creation of represen- tative associations in May 1991. These historic developments evolved through a number of sequential and interrelated events: NASA and its powerful impact on the outcome of the 1989 gen- eral election; the very courageous decision taken by a small group of senior NCOs to challenge the managerial status quo on how conditions of service, and particularly pay, were negotiated; the establishing of the unofficial PDFORRA and the under- standable apprehension of the authorities, civil and military, to break with existing Defence Force Regulations to negotiate with them; the Brady Interdepartmental Group and its compounding of the under- lying pay problem and the growing sense of powerlessness; the Gleeson Commis- sion, which became the vehicle for effec- tive structural change; the breakthrough meeting in the Ashling Hotel; and the creation of the representative process. Through access to wide-ranging original sources, the author very successfully identifies the key aspects of the conflict, which arose between the parties involved. He painstakingly uncovers and unpicks the conflict between PDFORRA and the authorities. He finds a clear divergence between the Minister of Defence and the General Staff, even uncovering a letter in which the accusation of 'surrender to PDFORRA' is alleged! His research unearths the decisive moments when the Minister rejects the 'military view' and moves to resolve the conflict. The author concludes that the Minister's decision to break the logjam was caused by the impending judgement in the High Court case he took against the State but my own recollection of the events is that the situation was more complex than that single issue. The Minister's reac- tion to the admonishment of the Officer Gleeson Group was also telling. So too, as the author correctly acknowledges, was the direct intervention of an officer which led to the Ashling Hotel meeting and the breaking of the logjam. The author is to be congratulated both on the sacrifices he made to support the introduction of representation and on this recording of those events. It should be read by anyone who seeks a fuller under- standing of the military ethos and of the role that the different ranks play within that ethos, but more importantly, by those who wish to better understand the uniqueness of the 'military family' within the State – it is truly like no other. Has representation made a positive con- tribution to the State's military resource? Is the current representation structure the one which best fits the needs of the State and the members of the Defence Forces? The answers to those very important questions need to be found elsewhere. But a reading of this book may well inspire fur- ther scholarship in those very important areas. I strongly recommend it to those interested in the history of the Defence Forces and in national military affairs. Newly elected officers of PDFORRA L/R: CPO John Lucy (Deputy General Secretary) and WO Michael Martin (General Secretary). Photo: An Cosantóir May 1992 WO Michael Martin, centre with the 31 IRCOMP, UNIFIL at the ministerial review, November 1994. Photo Armn John Daly/An Cosantoir 1st PDFORRA National Executive meets President of Ireland Mary Robinson, circa 1990s. Photo: © Louis Parminter

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