Gardaí need to recruit Muslims to “win the war against radicalism”

Gardaí need to recruit Muslim people to help “win the war against radicalism”, a leading Imam has said.

Shaykh Umar Al-Qadri said: “To win the war against radicalism we need to give the Muslim community more assurances that they are part of the society and give them the space to integrate and be part of the gardaí, part of the media, part of public life.”

He said some Muslims have been recruited into the Garda Reserve and this could be built on. “It is very essential there are gardaí from Muslim background, who can speak Arabic,” said the West Dublin imam.