Calls for Garda Commissioner and Government to conduct Brexit audit of Ireland-UK crossing points

The proposal is being made by the Central Executive Committee of the Garda Representative Association, the staff body for rank and file gardaí. File Picture

Frontline garda representatives are calling on the Garda Commissioner and the Justice Minister to conduct a Brexit audit of all “air, sea and land” crossing points between Ireland and the UK.

The examination is to ensure that Garda members operating at exit and entry points between the UK and the EU are “fully resourced” to meet the demands likely to be placed on them.

The proposal is being made by the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the Garda Representative Association (GRA), the staff body for rank and file gardaí.

The powerful CEC is the GRA's national steering body and is made up of representatives of each of the garda divisions, along with leading GRA officers.

The proposal is contained in a motion due to be put to delegates in the provisional agenda for the GRA two-day annual conference, starting on Tuesday.

The conference, delayed since May because of the Covid-19 pandemic, is being held entirely online with no physical meeting of any officers or delegates.

The CEC motion states: “With the onset of Brexit, Conference calls on the Garda Commissioner and the Minister for Justice and Equality to arrange for the inspection and examination of all air, sea and land crossing points to the United Kingdom which will now act as entry and exit points into the European Union and ensure that they are fully resourced to meet demands that will be placed on members of An Garda Síochána.” 

How such an inspection would be conducted and who would conduct it is not mentioned and may form part of the discussion on the motion. 

The examination would cover not only the land border North and South but all air and sea entry and exit points between Ireland and Britain.

Delegates from the border region are also tabling a motion highlighting resource issues. 

A motion from the Cavan/Monaghan branch states: “That Conference calls on the Garda Commissioner, given the unique policing demands in the border region, to properly resource border divisions including the upgrading of accommodation, fleet and information communications technology to a proper modern standard”.

Delegates from Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR) South Central have also raised resource issues, calling on the conference to demand that the Government provide “an urgent increase” to the Garda budget.

In a separate motion on resources, the CEC calls on the Government and the Office of Public Works to “immediately and substantially progress” the promised construction of new Garda stations at Clonmel, Sligo, and Macroom, which it said was contained in the Public Private Partnership programme.

The issue of child abuse imagery and online grooming is being raised by Dublin South Central, where delegates are calling on the commissioner to oversee the implementation of an online child exploitation unit in each Garda division in the State.

Colleagues in DMR East branch have highlighted online-enabled crimes, calling on the commissioner to develop and introduce an ongoing training module for all members to deal with the investigation of cyber-related crime, “in particular cyber bullying and harassment”, to be delivered through continuous professional development classroom training.

The Kerry branch is calling on the commissioner to continue using the Garda Training College in Templemore as the “sole primary training and education centre” for An Garda Síochána and to ensure that all new recruits receive the same training and serve the same probationary period before they become fully sworn members.

There are also motions regarding garda use of force and oversight.

Delegates in Donegal are calling for any investigation or review of circumstances whereby a member uses force to be guided by the perspective of a reasonable officer “on the scene” rather than with “20/20 vision of hindsight”.

The DMR South Central branch is calling on the Government to end the duplication of the roles of the Policing Authority and the Garda Inspectorate and to put arrangements in place for the “abolition of the Inspectorate” and allocate its resources to the Garda budget.