Councillor criticises number of new Garda recruits allocated to Mayo

The allocation of just one Garda recruit to a Mayo garda station has been criticised by a local councillor, who says the west of Ireland deserves a better police service.

On Friday, October 13, 126 Gardaí were attested as sworn members of An Garda Síochána with eleven of those new members to join Garda stations in the northwest of the country. It is understood that just one new member has been allocated to Co Mayo and the decision was criticised by Westport-based Independent councillor Christy Hyland.

A member of the Mayo Joint Policing Committee, Cllr Hyland said that the west of Ireland needs extra garda numbers and rural areas should not be neglected when it comes to garda numbers.

“We need police in rural towns. It is very disappointing to see the west of Ireland forgotten about again with new guards coming in. It is absolutely ridiculous and one guard is not going to help the problem at all. People in the west of Ireland are entitled to a policing service when we need it,” he told The Mayo News.

A former member of An Garda Síochána, Cllr Hyland claimed that under the new policing model introduced by Commissioner Drew Harris, gardaí are spending too long behind laptops and not enough time responding to calls.

“The serving members of the force are tied up for two or three hours every in every shift complying with the Pulse system. There are no gardaí on the ground to respond to emergencies and some may have to make a round trip of 200 miles to respond to a call. We need more guards on the ground or otherwise update the Pulse system so they are not behind their laptops and let the guards deal with calls. We want guards to be able to respond to urgent calls,” he said.

An Garda Síochana stated that as of yesterday, a new intake of approximately 170 Garda recruits were to enter the Garda College which will bring the number to approximately 500 recruit Gardaí in training.

These newly attested 126 members of An Garda Síochána were recruited as part of the 2022 recruitment campaign and commenced their Garda training in February 2023. The training included undertaking a blend of on-line learning, on-site learning in the Garda College, and experiential learning in training Garda stations.

Cllr Hyland said he wished the new recruits well but stressed that unless they are protected by the courts they will not have long careers as they will become disillusioned.

“People joining the guards today who are seriously assaulted while on duty will not put up with criminals walking free with suspended sentences. They will not put up with being assaulted and it is a huge factor for young gardaí leaving after a short time. There should be a mandatory minimum sentence of five years for assaulting a guard,” he said.