Future all-Ireland police agency should focus on 'quality of service'

Former Garda commissioner Drew Harris said the 'local connection' of gardaí is 'gold', where local people frequently know the name of their local gardaí and where local gardaí are involved in 'all aspects' of local life. 'You couldn’t say that of Northern Ireland.'

The potential of an all-island policing service working and being accepted could be achieved by concentrating on providing a “high quality service”, the former Garda commissioner Drew Harris has said.

Mr Harris, who retired last September, said this could be the alternative route into building a police service acceptable to the unionist community, in the eventuality of some kind of united Ireland.