Fianna Fáil vows 15,000 Garda force

Fianna Fáil has said it would increase the number of gardaí to 15,000 if elected to office.

The party’s justice spokesman Niall Collins said it was a damning indictment on the outgoing Government’s law and order record that the numbers in the force were allowed to dwindle to 12,000.

Speaking in Whitehall, outside a former Garda station and a stone’s throw from the Regency Hotel where last Friday’s murder took place, Mr Collins said he wished to stand in solidarity with the local community. The station was closed alongside 138 others.