THE THIN BLUE LINE
750 off with Covid...as Garda Band sent on frontline duty
UP to 750 gardai are off work or self-isolating because of Covid-19, the Irish Sunday Mirror can reveal.
Commissioner Drew Harris has had to redeploy officers – even members of the Garda Band – in a bid to plug the gap. The Garda Representative Association warned of “anxiety on the frontline” yesterday and called for its members to be given priority for the coronavirus
vaccine. GRA vice president Brendan O’connor added: “Gardai feel vulnerable to infection.”
According to figures released by the GRA at least 100 officers of an estimated 12,500 working on the frontline have contracted the virus since Christmas.
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris is now redeploying officers, including those in the Garda Band, back to frontline duties.
The decision is understood to have been made on Friday for 76 members of the force, including those of inspector and sergeant rank, to be deployed on Monday.
In Dublin alone an estimated 250 members of the force are out of work with the highest numbers in the west Dublin region, with 30 infected and a further 90 isolating.
Outside of Dublin, Limerick has the second highest number of gardai out with 95 self-isolating of which 13 are infected.
And in Cork City there are 55 self-isolating with 15 of them being confirmed as having Covid.
Gda O’connor said there is an understandable level of anxiety among frontline members.
“Gardai feel vulnerable to infection and the worry of taking it home to families is a big worry.”