Munster gardaí vow to oppose reserve force

EXPERIENCED gardaí would have to keep one eye on rioters and another on reservists if Minister for Justice Michael McDowell pushes through plans to create a back-up force, it was claimed last night.

In an even bigger show of strength from a meeting held last week in Sligo, nearly 1,100 rank-and-file and middle-management gardaí from all over Munster attended a meeting in the Rochestown Park Hotel, Cork, to protest against the Minister McDowell's plans to create a 4,000-strong reserve force.

The showdown with the minister and gardaí gained momentum when GRA president Dermot O'Donnell declared the weekend riot in Dublin clearly demonstrated "the foolishness" of the minister's proposals.

"Our students (gardaí) have 20 weeks' training before they are let onto the streets. That's seven times longer than the reserve force will get," Mr O'Donnell said.

Other gardaí pointed out that they had a duty of care under the Health and Safety Act to mind students and they would have to "nurse-maid" reservists to a far higher degree.

Mr O'Donnell added members of the reserve force would be faced with decision-making dilemmas they were simply not trained to deal with.

"It is not just formal training, it is acquired knowledge, experience and understanding that makes the job of a garda special. The reserve force would betray standards which have been built up over decades," Mr O'Donnell stressed.

He claimed Minister McDowell is "obsessed by his place in history" and uninterested in the "real problems" he needs to address.

Further stinging criticism came from AGSI president Joe Dirwan who claimed the PD minister's aim is to "undermine" the force with second-raters.

"Not only that, he is now telling local communities that they will in future have to police themselves," Mr Dirwan said.

He asked what would happen if volunteer doctors were called for, and with more than a hint of sarcasm with reference to the minister's pre-political profession he asked if he would recruit volunteer lawyers?

He then went on to describe Minister McDowell's proposals as "a mad hatter idea", while AGSI treasurer Willie Gleeson said it was "policing on the cheap".

Meanwhile, letters of support for the gardaí from the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) were read out at the meeting.