860 foreign nationals apply to join gardaí

MORE than 800 non-nationals have applied to join the gardaí - more than the entire force in Limerick.

In a phenomenal response to the first recruitment drive aimed at getting members of ethnic communities to join the force, around 8,600 people have applied.

The Public Appointments Service (PAS) said yesterday 10% of all applicants were foreign nationals - with the vast majority of them Chinese.

A PAS spokesperson said they had received 680 applications from members of the Chinese community. To put this in context, there are 600 gardaí deployed in Limerick.

Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy aims to draft in 1,100 recruits each year up to 2007 to bring the size of the force to 14,000 members.

“The current recruitment campaign was aimed at reflecting the multi-ethnic composition of Irish society,” said a garda spokesman.

Garda management hopes also to recruit members from eastern European countries and Nigeria due to the predominant number of people from these states now living in Ireland.

Under employment legislation, the Garda Commissioner is prevented from introducing quotas or applying positive discrimination to different types of applicants.

However, greater ethnic and cultural diversity has been identified as a strategic goal in the gardaí’s three- year corporate strategy.

The Garda Representative Association has also welcomed the new focus of the recruitment campaign as a way of having the force reflect diversification in the population.

The Government approved changes this summer to entry requirements for the gardaí so that applicants no longer have to hold qualifications in both Irish and English. Instead, they must prove they are competent in two languages, at least one of which must be Irish or English.

Recruits who do not have a qualification in Irish will be required to take special classes during their training period at the Garda College in Templemore, Co Tipperary.

Entry to the force is open to all EU nationals and applicants from European Economic Area states and Switzerland, as well as recognised refugees and any non-national who has been legally resident in the Republic for five years.

The National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism (NCCRI) said the garda recruitment drive appeared to be successful as the percentage of applicants from the immigrant community reflected the wider population.

NCCRI director Philip Watt, who organised workshops for potential applicants, said they should realise that up to 50% may not be successful.

The first successful applicants in the latest campaign are due to start training next spring.