A glimpse of life on the beat
The Guards is the work of award-winning photojournalist Mark Condren.
All profits from the book will go to Temple Street Children’s Hospital in Dublin, where Mr Condren’s son Ben spent two-and-a-half weeks, when he was 15 months old, after being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.
“We have made many visits since to the hospital and I began to realise that I would like to somehow repay the debt of gratitude that my family owed to them,” said Mr Condren.
He combined his professional life as a photojournalist and his family connections with the force, to approach An Garda Síochána with the idea of capturing the life of gardaí.
His dad Larry retired as sergeant in Castletownroche, Co Cork, in 2009 after 37 years in uniform. His uncle Sean is a detective sergeant in the immigration section at Dublin Airport, while his wife Michelle is a garda in Santry, north Dublin.
He described the year of compiling the book as the “most challenging yet satisfying year” of his life.
The photos cover a broad sweep of settings and situations, from interactions rural gardaí have with local communities, to public order situations, to heavily armed specialist units involved in gangland operations.
Some of the most moving pictures involve the sensitive job of investigating road traffic incidents, serious assaults and fatalities.
A number give a clear sense of the risks involved in restraining aggressive suspects and conducting operations against gang suspects and drug dealers.
But there are many lighter moments, which reveal interactions with ordinary people — pictures that are rarely seen but are a daily part of life for gardaí.
There are also a number of portraits of individuals including Garda Ethel O’Flynn, who disarmed a robber brandishing a 10-inch blade but received injuries to her hands. She received the Scott Medal for bravery.
The front cover is emblazoned with a scene reminiscent of US-police series COPS, with an armed Detective Garda Ger Hickey, sporting a T-shirt and jeans, roaring back to colleagues after collaring a suspect on a grim street.
