Lives of public ‘at risk’ over lack of Garda resources

The lives of public and uniformed gardaí are being put at risk from the firepower of criminal gangs and the New IRA, because Garda armed units are regionally based and can be scores of kilometres from an evolving serious incident.

The Garda Representative Association (GRA), which represents the force’s near 11,000 frontline gardaí, want highly trained armed response units stationed in all 28 Garda divisions in the country. At present there are just six based in regions.