Gardaí threaten to fight election over reserve

Gardaí today threatened to target Government seats in marginal constituencies if the plan to set up a Garda reserve force goes…

Gardaí today threatened to target Government seats in marginal constituencies if the plan to set up a Garda reserve force goes ahead.

The Garda Representative Association (GRA), which represents more than 9,500 rank-and-file members, said both Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats had to be aware of the political challenge they were taking on.

"There are marginal constituencies all around the country, and we will be targeting those constituencies. We will be waiting in the long grass for them because we feel very angered," said newly elected GRA president John Egan.

He referred to constituencies like Tipperary North, which is the home of the Garda College in Templemore, and Laois/Offaly, where a Garda backlash could cost Government TDs their seats.

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"We will resist the reserve. It's not just for our sake, it's for the sake of the public as well. They don't want some person picking up the phone to make a complaint on a Saturday to find out that the person they've complained of . . . they're talking to his brother in the station.

"That is not good for policing. It is detrimental to policing," Mr Egan said.

But Minister for Justice Michael McDowell, who has not been invited to speak at the GRA's annual conference in Galway today, is pressing ahead with his plans to recruit a reserve force of up to 4,000 members to carry out community policing duties.

He has warned the GRA that any policy of non-co-operation by gardaí with the reserve would be illegal, but the GRA does not accept this.

Mr Egan accused the Government of failing to provide gardaí with proper resources, such as anti-stab vests and patrol cars, during their nine years in power.

"They have one year left to do it and they're trying to foist window dressing of a Garda reserve on us. The public aren't fooled, we aren't fooled and we're going to resist it," he said.

PA