No need to arm gardaí, says Inspectorate

The Garda Inspectorate today insisted there was no need for a fully-armed police force despite the growing threat of gangland violence.

Kathleen O'Toole, chief inspector of the organisation set up to drive Garda reform, accepted there were concerns about officer safety but said alternatives to an armed response would be explored.

The shooting of unarmed Garda traffic branch officer Paul Sherlock in September sparked debate within the force about the need for uniformed officers to carry arms.

But Ms O'Toole said while ongoing reform will be modelled on police forces worldwide it would also be "culture-proofed" for the "unique Irish environment".

"For instance, we have great respect for the fact that the members of the Garda Síochána, police their communities while routinely unarmed," she told the annual Ceifin Conference, in Ennis, Co Clare.

"While we worry about the safety of police here, especially at a time when guns are more prevalent, we hope that they will always remain routinely unarmed.

"We will continue to recommend strategies to enhance their safety in hopes that we'll never have to suggest arming all of the police here."

The former Boston Police Commissioner said confidence in the Garda had been rightfully shaken recently by the revelations of corruption streaming from the Morris Tribunal.

But she stressed that most of the force - with a few exceptions - accepted the need for change and that the majority of the public still supported it.

"Yes, with recent tribunal reports, confidence has been shaken in the Garda Síochána and rightfully so," she said.

"There must be an acknowledgement of the mistakes of the past and a plan to ensure that the problems do not and cannot resurface.

"Yes, the Irish people are looking for reassurance, they are demanding more visible and effective service, but they still stand firmly behind their police."

The chief inspector insisted there was "no need to reinvent the wheel" when it came to transforming the Garda into a professional, modern police service.

"Strategies that have worked elsewhere can be fine tuned for the unique Irish environment and I am confident of that," she said.

Ms O'Toole was also an independent member of the Patten Commission which drove radical reform of policing in the North.

The former Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland Nuala O'Loan, who stood down on Monday, was also speaking at the Ceifin conference, which debates change in Irish society.