One-in-three gardaí now female, after new recruits join force

MORE women are joining An Garda Síochána and over onethird of new officers who graduated from Templemore yesterday were female.

A total of 165 new gardaí were sworn in with 55 females or over 30% of the new recruits.

In the previous graduation, there were 126 new recruits and 25% were women.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris were at the graduation ceremony as the new officers prepared to be sent to Garda stations across the nation.

Ms McEntee said she was heartened to see more women joining the force.

She said: ‘I’m pleased to see continuing strong interest in a career in An Garda Síochána, with over 6,300 applying for the latest competition, over 30% women, 40% in the 35-49 age bracket and 25% noting their ethnicity as “other than White Irish”.’

Speaking in the Dáil last month, Ms McEntee said that more and more women are now signing up as prospective members of the force and that Ireland’s numbers in this regard were higher than the EU average.

The force continues to diversify, with some new members hailing from Albania and Hong Kong.

Commissioner Harris said he hopes to see officer numbers reach 15,000 as he welcomed the latest recruits to join the force.

The latest figures bring total Garda numbers to 14,091, supported by 3,494 staff and 346 reserves.

The Government recently increased the Garda entry age limit from 35 years to 50 in a bid to boost numbers.

The Commissioner said the Garda public order units ‘will soon be provided with tasers and smaller riot shields’.