Gardaí demand action over faulty rural radio link system

PEOPLE in south Kerry cannot contact local gardaí because the ‘green man’ radio link system used in rural stations hasn’t worked for the last four years, gardaí said yesterday.

Instead, people must ring Cahirciveen and Killarney garda stations, which in turn contact local gardaí by ringing their personal mobile phones.

Angry gardaí highlighted the situation yesterday at the annual conference of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) in Kilkenny.

"The green man in Sneem, Waterville and Kenmare don't work and haven't worked for the past three or four years," said Sgt Eugene O'Sullivan from the Kerry division.

He said garda management had not been able to find parts to fix the system. He said the radio at base station did not work either, and also because spare parts could not be found.

"Local people are not able to contact gardaí and have to go away and come back and hope it works next time, or they have to ring Killarney or Cahirciveen."

Proposing a motion at the conference, Sgt O'Sullivan said station mobile phones should be given out to gardaí on outdoor duty.

"In the event of a failure to issue phones, members should cease using their own phones for operational matters," he said. The motion was carried.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell said a major investment was underway to install a new national digital radio system in stations.

The AGSI conference also passed a motion calling for a shift in traffic policy away from detections towards compliance.

Sgt Richard Lyons of Dublin Metropolitan Region south, said gardaí were now under pressure to give people like old ladies a ticket rather than caution them for not wearing a seat belt.

He recalled that one garda said to him that "to have a conscience is a burden" in traffic policing.

"Our entire strategy appears to be based not just on detections only but on detections achieved while we hide behind bus stops or hedges."

He said that in 2003 low detection rates paralleled the lowest road fatality rate on record.

The conference also passed a motion calling for a basic knowledge of the Irish language to be a requirement for attestation when student gardaí complete a year's training.

The motion initially proposed keeping Irish as a requirement to enter training, a situation Justice Minister Michael McDowell intends to change to cater for possible recruits from the immigrant communities.