Call to protest: Gardaí to stop using mobiles

THE Garda Síochána faces serious disruption after Garda representatives directed members to stop using their personal mobile phones for police work.

The Garda Representative Association (GRA) the body for rank-and-file members issued the directive in protest at the continuing state of the garda communication system.

"We have a radio system which is a quarter of a century old. The Government either don't know or don't want to know just how bad the situation is," said GRA president Dermot O'Donnell.

He said gardaí have had to use their personal mobile phones for the last six years because the analogue radio system was either patchy or did not work at all.

The directive sent out last Monday means gardaí will not take instructions relayed to them on their personal mobiles or check messages left on it.

Mr O'Donnell said the GRA regretted the impact on people in terms of responding to calls and dealing with crime.

"Most police forces in the EU have a digital radio system and none have a system as archaic as ours," he said.

"Some spare parts are no longer in production, most spare parts are no longer on the shelf.

"We have our technicians cannibalising the worst parts to try and keep what appears to be the best parts of a bad system."

He said the directive was implementing association policy, adopted at its annual conference last April.

Mr O'Donnell said the long-awaited replacement digital system would take another three to four years before it was up and running.

In the meantime, he called on Justice Minister Michael McDowell to consider compensating members for using their mobile phones.

A spokesman for the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors said it had called for station mobile phones to be made available to gardaí on outdoor duty given the "appalling" condition of the radio system.

He said that in the event of station phones not being issued members should not use their mobile phones.

A spokeswoman for Mr McDowell said the tender for the new system would go to the market in October.

She said the existing radio system would continue to be maintained.