Horse sense: new Garda recruit named after social media competition

The newest recruit to the Garda mounted unit has been named Senan, following a competition on social media that saw early favourite 'Horsey McHorseface' beaten to the post by several public suggestions.

The name, which means "wise one" in several languages, was chosen for the horse, following an open call by the Gardaí on Twitter. More than 7,000 entries were submitted over the past week.

Garda Kate Daly Ní Bhroin outlines some of the suggestions which were put forward:

"Some of the more popular ones were Fionn, Oisín, Fintan, Dóchas, meaning 'hope' in Irish, and Tír na nÓg.

"Some of these names are already taken here, as part of the Garda mounted unit, but we've had some funny suggestions sent in, like Covid, Roboclop, and Shergarda."

Speaking last week, Sergeant Brendan Duffy of the Garda Mounted Unit said the horse is young and mischievous.

"He's an eight-year-old Irish draft gelding and he hails from the midlands, near Monasterevan. He's a typical Irish draft: he's very intelligent, he's inquisitive, he learns quite quickly. He's also a little bit mischievous in a good sense. He's interested in learning new skills."