Garda training, resources to improve after crisis review

THE number of gardaí trained to use guns will increase and all members will wear bullet-proof vests and carry pepper spray on the beat as part of the force’s response to the Abbeylara siege.

The changes are among 84 recommended by the Garda Inspectorate to improve handling of siege and hostage situations, many of the recommendations focusing on the safety of officers deployed to such “barricade incidents”.

The review was prompted by the publication last year of the Barr Tribunal report into the Abbeylara incident in April 2000.