Kerry gardaí say the county needs its own armed support unit

AGSI conference passed motion from Kerry gardaí about ASU response times, particularly in the wake of major recent incidents involving drugs or firearms

Sergeant Adrian Brennan has repeated the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors conference call for An Garda Síochána to analyse ASU response times in rural areas. Stock picture: Dan Linehan

Armed garda support can take up to three hours to arrive at serious crimes in Kerry which is putting people at risk, local gardaí say.

Gardaí in Kerry are now calling for their own armed support unit (ASU) for the county.

Kerry has recently seen the largest crystal meth seizure in the history of the State, in Tralee. And in nearby Castlemaine in February, an elderly man who was a well-known gun enthusiast was killed. A man has been charged with his murder.

Sergeant Adrian Brennan has called for An Garda Síochána to analyse ASU response times to rural areas.

“We in Kerry don’t have an ASU unit,” Sgt Brennan said.

“The nearest units to us are in Cork and Limerick. So when they’re responding to an armed situation or a critical incident, it’ll take them two and a half, three hours to go down to certain parts of South Kerry or North Kerry or West Kerry.

We’re looking for the Kerry division to be given its own ASU unit, which would fit in with the rest of the units in the region, which are in Cork, Limerick, and Clare.

“We’re looking for an expansion of the ASU units into more rural areas where they can provide cover, as well as providing cover to the larger urban areas in towns like Tralee and Killarney in the Kerry division.”

Although the crystal meth seizure in Tralee and the suspected murder in Castlemaine last month grabbed the most headlines, other less-publicised incidents have also recently required armed support, he said.

In Caherciveen, a teenager suffered serious injuries in a suspected stabbing last month.

And when gardaí were threatened by a man armed with a knife in Portmagee, it took the armed support unit some time to respond from Limerick, leaving local gardaí dealing with a potentially deadly situation, he said.

“You’re talking a two, two-and-a-half hour journey, even with blue lights and the best will in the world,” Sgt Brennan said.

“And we don’t have motorways going down through the middle of Kerry.

“So, they have to get there safely and as quickly as they can which is a pressure and a risk for them. And it’s putting a risk on the guards attending the incidents, as well as the members of public.

“The training and the expertise that these units provide are essential.

“They are a massive asset to every area. They reduce incidents of people being injured or members of the public being injured, guards being injured.”

Local gardaí have protective clothing and equipment which they can bring to dangerous incidents, and there are some armed detectives in Kerry. 

However, the Armed Support Unit has more non-lethal weapons such as tasers which can be used to disarm someone without doing serious harm, Sgt Brennan said, adding: 

It's their training, and their expertise that they bring, is the benefit. 

A Kerry armed support unit could also serve areas of West Cork, which has also seen significant drug smuggling activity, and the area is closer to Kerry than it is to Cork City.

Sgt Brennan, who is the Kerry representative for the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI), said that a motion from the Kerry division calling for a review of the ASU response times in rural areas passed at the annual conference in Mayo this week.