Justice minister urged to recruit rank and file gardaí

The organisation representing rank-and-file gardaí has called on Justice Minister Alan Shatter to recruit members immediately to the 13,000-strong force.

Garda Representative Association (GRA) president John Parker made the call yesterday after Mr Shatter filled vacancies in senior Garda ranks. These included appointing an assistant commissioner, chief superintendents and superintendents.

However, the GRA says that filling these posts, which had been vacant for months, needed to be done in conjunction with recruiting more rank-and-file members.