Garda association to discuss Croke Park II at annual conference

The new public sector pay deal will dominate the annual conference of middle ranking gardaí which gets underway in Sligo today.

The meeting of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors comes amid a campaign of opposition to the revised Croke Park Agreement.

Issues relating to morale, firearms, station closures and fleet standards will also be debated during the three-day conference.

Around 150 delegates will gather in Sligo later today.

The middle ranking Garda representative body, which represents over 2,000 Garda sergeants and inspectors, is now engaged in a campaign to highlight its resistance to the planned cuts.

Twenty-seven motions will be discussed at the conference, with over a third relating to the Croke Park II deal which one AGSI branch said is having a "detrimental and damaging effect" on the welfare and morale of the force.

The Justice Minister Alan Shatter is expected to receive a less than warm welcome when he addresses the delegates this evening, while the Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan will speak at the conference tomorrow afternoon.