Ireland: police & security agencies
01 January 1991
Ireland: police & security agencies
bacdoc July=1995
The information in this country file was first published in the
handbook "Statewatching the new Europe" (November 1993). It was
compiled by Peter Klerks and extracted from a longer report which
is available from: The Domestic Security Research Foundation, PO
Box 11178, 1001 GD, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
IRELAND
An Garda Siochana (Guardians of the Peace)
The Republic of Ireland has a single unitary police force
centrally controlled from Dublin. Its strength as of 31 December
1992 was 10,996 and it also employed 675 civilian workers. The
Garda Siochana is headed by a Commissioner appointed by the
Government and comes under the authority of the Minister for
Justice who is answerable for its operations to the Oireachtas
(Parliament). There are only 526 women in the Garda Siochana
(4.8%). There is only one woman Superintendent and no woman is
above that rank. The first women were not recruited until 1959.
Organisational structure
The state is divided into 23 policing Divisions, each headed by
a Chief Superintendent, but five of those Divisions comprise the
Dublin Metropolitan Area (DMA), which forms a single command unit
headed by an Assistant Commissioner. A total of 3,984 gardai
(36%) are stationed in the DNA, which comprises Dublin and its
immediate surroundings and has a population of 1.1 million - out
of 3.5 million in the state.
Uniformed/non-uniformed - unarmed/armed
The Garda Siochana has traditionally been a largely unarmed
force. Uniformed gardai do not carry firearms and are armed only
with batons, though all gardai now receive firearms training.
There are approximately 1,700 detectives, who do not wear
uniforms. They have access to firearms and depending on their
duties, many will carry them. The standard weapon is a .38
revolver, but they also have access to Uzi sub-machine guns.
Each Garda Division outside the DNA has its own detective
unit which deals with criminal investigation, drugs and
subversive/political crime. The DMA, as well as having some 300
ordinary detectives, is also the base for the Central Detective
Unit (150 members) and the Special Detective Unit (500 members).
The Central Detective Unit deals with serious crime, eg
murder, in the DMA and will assist the Divisional detective units
with serious crimes in their area. The Special Detective Unit
deals with surveillance, and subversive/political crime mainly
the IRA - as well as providing protection for Government
Ministers, judges, diplomats etc. Again it will assist local
Divisional detective units, which will usually have some members
dealing with surveillance and subversive/political crime in their
area.
Emergency Response Unit
There have been a number of special units targeted at the IRA and
violent crime. In the early 1980s there was a series of
Divisional Task Forces but these acquired a reputation for being
aggressive, trigger happy and undisciplined. They were replaced
about three years ago by a centrally controlled Emergency
Response Unit. This unit -- about 75 strong - specialises in arms
raids and searches, arresting suspected IRA members and dealing
with bank robberies etc. It is also trained to deal with sieges,
kidnaps and hijackings. One of its first actions in 1990 involved
a `shoot-out' which left a bank robber dead and two of his
companions and several civilians injured. It transpired that all
the shots were fired by ERU members.
The Army
The Irish Army - about 13,000 strong - is used extensively to
provide back-up security for uniformed gardai at road checkpoints
near the Border with Northern Ireland. It is also used to provide
armed escorts for large cash shipments and to escort paramilitary
prisoners to and from court and to guard the perimeter of the
Republic's maximum security prison at Portlaoise, where IRA and
other paramilitary prisoners are held. The Army was also used
occa