Garda pursuit training could face delays due to EU presidency events, AGSI warns

The tragic accident saw five teenagers killed, two women critically injured, and another woman and child seriously injured – leading to calls for improved garda pursuit training. File picture: Eamon Farrell.

The deputy general secretary of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI), Kevin Bolger, has said he is concerned garda pursuit training could be delayed due to planned EU presidency events.

Mr Bolger’s comments, made on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, follow the announcement that Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly will be introducing specific pursuit training for gardaí by the end of the year.

The announcement was made by justice minister Jim O'Callaghan, who also said that the Government will consider a standalone criminal offence for driving the wrong way down a motorway following the recent M9 crash.

The tragic accident saw five teenagers killed, two women critically injured, and another woman and child seriously injured – leading to calls for improved garda pursuit training.

Mr Bolger said that he “absolutely” welcomes the Commissioner’s intent to introduce pursuit training, but has “concern more than anything, because I would question how much can be delivered in that period of time”.

"We will work with him to get this done, and to get it to as many people as we can, but the reality is we are running a presidency at the moment,” said Mr Bolger.

“The latter half of this year is jam-packed with a visit from the US president, and an EPC meeting, where a lot of world leaders will be coming in November – so that is September and November under pressure.

“There is a lot of constant resourcing requirements in relation to policing as it is – but we welcome this, we want to see action on this.” 

Call for roads policing units to be prioritised

While Mr Bolger said that the number of gardaí to receive pursuit training is a decision to be made by the commissioner, he believes “there is no point in having one singular person trained in an area, because if you have to do an effective containment and stop, that will take more than one person and more than one vehicle”.

“The capacity has to be built into it to make it work, and realistically speaking, you would want a couple of people working on every unit, but my ask would be – start with resourcing fully the roads policing units that are out there – train them, equip them, and protect them,” said Mr Bolger.

“There is always 15% to 20% of divisions that are short [in relation to roads policing].

“The Commissioner is making strides to back-fill those vacancies, but we welcome that the numbers are rising within An Garda Síochána, and we hope with the tragedies that are happening on the road left, right and centre at the moment, that this becomes a priority for the organisation.” 

Mr Bolger also said that pursuit training is a “two-fold thing”, with gardaí needing training both in pursuing a vehicle and in containing the vehicle and its occupants.

“Training is one thing – to be able to get into a space where you can pursue them – but containment is another, whereby you can enact certain actions to bring them to a hard stop,” said Mr Bolger.

“Our belief is that these people should be stopped before they get on a motorway.

“We would call on the minister and the Commissioner to look internationally to see what is happening in other jurisdictions in this space, because we surely can’t be the only ones that have this phenomenon.

“Whatever is international best practice, we would ask that it would be considered here because sometimes you just have to put an intervention in to stop them from getting on the motorway at all.”