HATS OFF Mayo men David Mead from Ballina (at back) and Ronan Loftus from Newport (right) are pictured with fellow graduates Joe Kenny and Elaine Burke. All four who will be based in Mullingar are pictured after graduating from Templemore last Friday. Pic. Brian Arthur/ Press 22
Fifteen Mayo gardaí graduate
Michael Duffy
AFTER over two years of intensive training, 15 Mayo natives threw their Garda caps in the air last Friday in celebration of their graduation from the Templemore Garda Training College in Co Tipperary.
A total of 254 trainees officially joined the force last Friday and were presented with their certificates by the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, in the presence of the Garda Commissioner, the current Mayo Person of the Year, Noel Conroy.
One of the Mayo natives to be presented with his certificate was Pat Casey from The Neale, who will be based in Sligo City.
“Yes, I’m delighted to have finally completed my training and I will be returning to work in Sligo full-time on Wednesday. I have been on probation there for the last nine months so I am already settled in well,” said Pat, who added that he found the whole training process a great challenge.
“Initially, you do get a lot thrown at you in the first few months in Templemore, so it is good to get out and see how things really work when you are placed in a station as a student garda for six months. I did my student garda training in Henry Street in Limerick and you end up picking up things pretty fast in a busy place like that.”
Having returned to Templemore for a three-month stint from January to March 2006, Pat then found himself spending his probationary nine months in Sligo, which is relatively close to home in The Neale.
The full list of the 15 Mayo graduates who will be taking up their new positions this week are (where they are stationed in in brackets): Suzanne Nolan, Ballyhaunis (Athlone); Francis Needham, Achill Sound (Bailieboro); Peter Joseph Meenan, Ballyhaunis (Cavan); Dominic Regan, Ballyhaunis (Ennis): Robert McCallion, Swinford; Paul Harte, Castlebar; Patrick Lynn, Killala; Niamh Carey, Bangor Erris (all based in Letterkenny); Mairead Gibbons, Hollymount (Milford); David Mead, Ballina; Ronan Loftus, Newport (both based in Mullingar); Eamhair Judge, Bonniconlon (Rathfarnham); Sean Naughton, Castlebar (Roscommon); Patrick Casey, The Neale (Sligo) and Thomas Tighe, Ballycastle (Sundrive Road, Crumlin).
Of the 254 gardaí who graduated, only four have been permanently based in Mayo. Michael Toland from Buncrana has been based in Castlebar; Rebecca Fearon, from Keadue in Roscommon will be in Ballina; Sarah Justice from Sixmilebridge in Clare will be based in Claremorris and Siobhan Clancy from Roscommon will be based in Westport.