Gardaí’s 169,000 overtime hours for Bush’s 18-hour visit

GARDAÍ clocked up more than 169,000 hours of overtime as part of an €8 million State operation to provide security for George Bush’s 18-hour visit to Ireland in June.

The Labour Party last night questioned the massive outlay of money and manpower, saying the trip appeared to be no more than “a pre-election photo opportunity” for the US president.

The figures were contained in a reply from Justice Minister Michael McDowell to a Dáil question from Labour TD Joe Costello. They showed 169,021 garda overtime hours were required to put security arrangements in place for Mr Bush’s visit.