Ranks of Garda Reserve swell and reflect our new diversity
Saturday November 21 2009
THE strength of the Garda Reserve increased to 500 members yesterday after a graduation ceremony at the Garda College in Templemore.
A total of 83 graduates included six Polish recruits and one each from as far away as Australia, Cameroon, India, Pakistan and Lithuania, and as close as Britain.
A further 116 recruits are in training and an additional intake of 52 recruits will be welcomed on Friday.
Justice Minister Dermot Ahern told the graduates their work within the local communities would strengthen the links and deepen the respect for the garda force.
He said they would be operating in an increasingly diverse Irish society and the communities were being enriched by new residents from many parts of Europe and the wider world.
Mr Ahern said he was delighted to see the reserve leading the way in welcoming new members from different ethnic and national backgrounds and he hoped their example would encourage more "new Irish" to join.
The Government, he added, was committed to the support and development of the reserve.
The two main garda staff associations have argued for the reserve to be disbanded as a cost-saving measure but this has been rejected by the Government.
Also among the graduates yesterday were Eamon Doherty, a 45-year-old area sales manager and son of former garda commissioner Eamon Doherty and grandson of former deputy commissioner Tom O'Reilly.
- Tom Brady
Irish Independent
