Gardaí urged to do more to increase diversity of its membership

Shane O’Curry was responding to a new report from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) which found that, in 2023, 98% of garda members identified as ‘white Irish’. File photo: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie

An Garda Síochána needs to do more to bring the diversity of its workforce in line with the diversity of the wider population, the director of the Irish Network Against Racism (INAR) has said.

Shane O’Curry was responding to a new report from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) which found that, in 2023, 98% of garda members identified as ‘white Irish’. This compares to the 77% of the general population who identified as this ethnicity in Census 2022.

Mr O'Curry said the composition of the force is not reflective of the population according to 2022 data. He said the CSO findings underscore the need for gardaí to put in place special measures to bring its composition “to a place that is more in line with the populations they serve".

“We know from our data that confidence in An Garda Síochána is low among ethnic minorities,” he said.

“One factor that would help to reassure people coming to gardaí would be if they saw their own identities reflected in that of An Garda Síochána.”

Around 36% of An Garda Síochána employees were female in January 2023https://t.co/8B9MVDajqt#CSOIreland #Ireland #GenderBalance #BalanceforBetter #GardaSiochana pic.twitter.com/fOZTEEaSfX

— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) June 14, 2023

Responding to the CSO’s findings, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said the force “fully recognises that we have a lot more work to do to increase our diversity".

He said a recent recruitment campaign put a lot of time and effort into encouraging people from minority communities to consider a career in policing.

The CSO report also found:

• 36% of the force’s employees were female as of January 2023.
• 40% were aged between 40 and 49; 28% were 30-49, 20% were 50-59, 9% were 20-29, 4% were 60+.
• 89% identified as Catholic, 8% as No Religion, 1% were Church of Ireland and 1% were of another religion

The report also found that 4% of An Garda Síochána members have a disability.