Significant rise in number of garda applicants from ethnic minorities

Some 44 Travellers were among those who applied to join the Gardaí in 2022. File Picture: Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

There has been a relatively significant increase in the diversity of people applying to be gardaí, figures for the most recent garda recruitment campaign indicate.

People describing themselves as “White Irish” accounted for 77% of applications — down from 88% in the last garda recruitment campaign in 2019.

Those who describe themselves as “Asian/Asian Irish” or “Black/Black Irish” make up 5% of applications this time around, compared to 2% in 2019.

Ethnicity figures provided by the Public Appointments Service (PAS) — which ran the competition — show that the proportion of applications from Travellers rose slightly, while those from “Other White” fell.

The complete picture is not clear, as 10% of applicants gave no information on their ethnicity, compared to 2% in 2019.

PAS figures show that women accounted for almost 40% of all applications.

A total of 11,075 people applied to be student gardaí, compared to 5,197 in 2019. The Government has allocated funding for 800 recruits in 2022.

PAS ethnicity figures (compared to Garda HQ figures from 2019) show:

• White Irish — 77.4% of applications (87.6%); 
• White Other — 5.4% (6.9%); 
• White Irish Traveller — 0.4% (0.27%); 
• Asian or Asian Irish — 3.5% (1.44%); 
• Black or Black Irish — 1.4% (0.59%). 

In terms of numbers, the number of Asian applicants has risen from 75 in 2019 to 388 in 2022, black applicants from 31 to 155, and Traveller applicants from 14 to 44.

Garda HQ made it a priority in the campaign to encourage applications from minority communities in a bid to improve the force's very low levels of diversity.

Immigrant Council of Ireland CEO Brian Killoran said: “The dedicated efforts of An Garda Síochána to ensure that their recruitment drive resulted in a higher level of interest from Ireland's diverse communities have clearly been successful.

“That Ireland continues to develop a police force which is reflective of the true nature of Irish society is of paramount importance.

“Hopefully, this clear demonstration of interest will translate into a more visible presence of diverse gardaí embedded in our communities in Ireland.” 

Fiona Hurley, interim CEO of refugee and migrant rights group Nasc, said: "It is important that An Garda Síochána reflects the diversity that exists across Ireland, and it is good to see that their latest recruitment campaign, which targeted minority communities, has made a welcome impact on the number of people applying to join the force. 

"We hope to see that these figures are reflected in the profile of the successful candidates."