Garda entry - Small but significant ethnic shift

IT is eminently sensible of the management of An Garda Síochána to adapt to the socially changing composition of the population by actively encouraging resident non-nationals to join the force.

Ireland is a fast-changing society, as evidenced by the enlarged population of ethnic groups which has chosen to live here.

Of the 8,600 applications received in the latest garda recruiting drive, about 10% were non-nationals, largely people of Chinese extraction.