Commissioner sacks two gardaí over dispute at US embassy

The Garda Commissioner has dismissed two gardaí who were involved in a dispute while guarding the US embassy in Dublin.

A Garda spokesman said due process had been followed before the decision was taken to dismiss the pair after an internal investigation. He declined to comment further pending the outcome of a possible appeal. Last month, an internal Garda inquiry recommended that the two gardaí be dismissed over the incident, which occurred in June 2005.

The men, who had served with An Garda Síochána for 15 and 20 years, were armed with handguns when they started drinking in a pub during a 12-hour shift outside the embassy. The officers, who had been transferred temporarily to plain clothes, then had a dispute over whose round it was.

The men, carrying standard Smith and Wesson guns, were separated and returned to the embassy, where they continued to fight. It was reported that one then left his shift early and drove home. He was stopped in Ballymun on suspicion of drink-driving.

The two gardaí were suspended after the incident and an internal inquiry was established. One man faced five charges and the other seven charges in relation to breaches of discipline and dereliction of duty. They were the only two armed gardaí on duty at the embassy at the time. Gardaí usually plan their meal breaks so that at least one armed member is on duty at the embassy at all times.

Fifteen members of the force have been sacked between 2001 and 2006. A further 42 have resigned as an alternative to dismissal in the same period.

New procedures have been introduced to enable the commissioner to summarily dismiss a garda who is alleged to have brought the force into disrepute or abandoned duties.