There are not enough gardaí left, says union

There are not enough gardaí left to police the State “efficiently and effectively” because the force has suffered unprecedented retirements and is getting no recruits due to an embargo.

That is the hard-hitting message which will be delivered to the justice minister and the Garda Commissioner today by Garda Representative Association (GRA) president Damien McCarthy when his organisation’s 34th annual conference gets under way in Athlone, Co Westmeath.

Garda McCarthy, who represents 11,300 rank-and-file members of the force, last night outlined a number of problems facing what remained of the ever-thinning blue line.