GRA conference: Gardaí fear they are not equipped to handle terrorist attack
Garda sources said they are concerned about the lack of firepower at Dublin Airport should it be attacked and are also worried, in general, about the lack of training for frontline gardaí in the event of terrorists striking in other parts of the country.
These fears are being discussed by delegates attending the GRA conference, along with concerns that, compared to other police forces in Europe, gardaí are poorly equipped on a number of fronts to meet the challenge of modern-day policing.
The GRA is calling for tactical counter-terrorism training courses to be held for all frontline gardaí at least twice a year.
Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan said she is conscious of the need for more training.
“Like any other organisation when a recession hits and when there are serious reductions in funding training, unfortunately right across the globe, and certainly right across organisations, something gets hit and An Garda Síochána is no different.”
She conceded the Garda “have a lot of catch up to do” with training that is provided to gardaí both in terms of continuous professional development and in-service training.
“We have committed in December of last year to setting up the armed support unit for Dublin City which gives us an additional armed response capability.
"We have also committed to making sure our regional support units, which are the armed response capability right around the country, are augmented and that we can provide by the end of this year 24/7 capability.”
Ms O’Sullivan said a strategic and tactical operational command is being set up.
“What we need to do is have a tiered response, not just simple firearms response but have a tiered response. That actually means... we will have all of our firearms capability in one area and on-scene command and our other tactical deployments and what that will look like — we will have that in place by the end of June,” she said.
Ms O’Sullivan said there was a need for “awareness training” of potential terrorist threats.
“The environment in which we operate is changing all the time and the face of terrorism has changed, is changing, and will continue to change. We have to make sure we have the agility and the responsiveness to be able to deal with whatever the type of attack is.”
The GRA said gardaí are poorly equipped compared to other police forces and should be issued with bodycams and Tasers and have satnavs and lifejackets in their patrol cars.
GRA delegates also said uniforms and boots are outdated and not suitable for modern policing.
Garda Jack Kelleher, Sligo division, said little had changed in terms of uniform and equipment since he joined the force in 1993. He said satnavs should be in all patrol cars, especially as they would enable gardaí to get to incidents in rural areas faster.
Garda Ben Lynch, also based in Sligo, said “you’d be afraid of the police abroad with the amount of gear they’re carrying”.
