Reserve police force - Garda fears cannot be dismissed

JUSTICE Minister Michael McDowell should no longer have any doubt about the intensity of garda opposition to his plan for a reserve volunteer police force.

Any such doubts were dispelled yesterday when members of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) confronted the minister in a face-to-face meeting at which they spelled out their vehement antipathy to the concept.

While it is clear the campaign of resistance to the Government’s radical proposal is largely self-serving, it would be disingenuous to portray garda opposition to such a force as merely sour grapes.