Mid-ranking gardaí say they can't rule out industrial action during Joe Biden visit

Then US vice president Joe Biden is greeted by local children after arriving at Ireland West Airport, Knock, in 2016. AGSI members are considering industrial action during his visit as president. File picture: Henry Wills

Industrial action cannot be ruled out by gardaí during US president Joe Biden’s visit to Ireland next week.

Antoinette Cunningham, general secretary of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) said she “can't reassure our members on anything” when asked whether there could be industrial action next week.

“Everything and anything” including blue flu is “in the hands of the delegates” at this week's AGSI conference, she said.

"By lunchtime tomorrow I will have a very clear view of what the delegates wish to do," Ms Cunningham added. 

An impasse within the force regarding the garda roster will be discussed at the conference.

“There's only one way to resolve [it] and that's through dialogue so we can resolve this dispute,” she said, adding that morale in the force is low.

“We haven't gone back to a fixed pattern of work since we changed our roster during the covid-19 pandemic,” she said.

“People are tired and fatigued with bureaucratic systems. Uncertainty has created a huge issue.” 

Some 250 members of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) marched from the gates of the Phoenix Park to Garda HQ with a letter of protest about garda rosters. Picture: Colin Keegan/Collins

 She said gardaí cannot plan their lives properly under the current roster system.

"It's very unsettling for people and then you have bureaucratic systems that have been introduced."

Ms Cunningham said it will be “helpful” if a recruitment drive to hire 1,000 new gardaí is successful and that, if those recruits aren't taken on, “resources will continue to be a problem". 

AGSI president Paul Curran said gardaí are currently facing “one of the most challenging periods". He said: 

Recruitment and retention are real issues, with falling numbers meaning our members are being asked to do more, bureaucratic systems meaning we cannot get out into our communities and the traditional garda model of community policing disappearing before our very eyes.

"On March 13, 250 gardaí hand-delivered a letter to the Garda Commissioner in Phoenix Park to express their dissatisfaction, frustration and anger at the apparent lack of consideration for our health and safety because of rostering issues.

"In March 2020 we, without question, agreed to change our work practice overnight as a temporary measure to assist this country in the policing of the covid-19 pandemic and were happy to do so in the national interest.

Antoinette Cunningham and Paul Curran, AGSI general secretary and president respectively, led some 250 association members on a march on Garda Headquarters in protest at garda rosters. Picture: Colin Keegan/Collins

"The undertaking that we were given at that time by garda management is that we would return to our normal shift pattern. 

"Instead, what actually happened was that in April 2022 the emergency covid-19 pandemic public health regulations ended and we have lived in a complete state of roster uncertainty since then, with scant regard for the certainty and predictability that we are entitled to. 

"This has caused stress, anxiety and worry for our members and their families and is completely unacceptable."

He said that a "seemingly blatant disregard" for industrial relations dispute procedures agreed in 2020 is also a major concern for gardaí.