Praise for gardaí on the frontline - Putting their lives on the line

THERE could hardly be a more appropriate way to mark next month’s 20th anniversary of the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin than the screening of RTÉ’s excellent fly-on-the-wall documentary, The Guards, a two-part series on the real-life experiences of gardaí in Dublin.

Despite morale being at an all-time low throughout the force, and notwithstanding the fact that new recruits are paid a pittance, the men and women of An Garda Síochána go out day after day and night after night to do a job that few, if any of us, would have the courage to take on.

There is literally no end to the violence that gardaí have to face so as to keep the peace, so that other citizens can go safely about their business. While media headlines may be dominated with the statements of politicians and of senior gardaí, the series looks at life through the eyes of the frontline troops on the ground who have to deal with issues ranging from drug dealing and street crime to policing public events.