Garda levels ‘too low for city’ for Cork city

A senior representative of the largest Garda association has said it is completely unacceptable that the Cork Metropolitan region is to get just five recruits — as Garda numbers are already so low there they are only able to “operate fire brigade action”.

Mick Corcoran, a member of the Garda Representative Association’s (GRA) central executive committee, said that he has raised concerns with senior management about the depleted number of gardaí in the city and suburbs, claiming they are operating with nearly 100 fewer than in 2008.

Meanwhile, a civilian member of the Cork county joint policing committee (JPC), Fianna Fáil councillor Daithí Ó Donnabháin, said he has heard at first hand from gardaí in the city and suburbs how worried they are by manpower shortages and he will be raising it as a matter of urgency at the JPC meeting in County Hall next Monday.