GRA head: Gardaí need more resources to counter dissidents

GARDAÍ are not as well equipped to deal with the threat from dissident republicans as their counterparts in the North, according to the president of the organisation which represents the 11,500 rank and file members of the force.

Garda Representative Association (GRA) president Damien McCarthy told Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan that frontline members of the force weren’t adequately equipped to counter the threat from dissidents and drug gangs.

“They are organised criminal gangs building resources when ours are being reduced. While our colleagues north of the border (PSNI) have received nearly €300 million in additional funding to counter this rising threat, the Garda budget is reduced,” the GRA president said. “We are all too aware the dissident factions need funding; much of it gathered through organised crime here.”