The establishment of the Garda Reserve marks the commencement of a new and exciting chapter of policing in the Republic, said Minister for Justice Michael McDowell yesterday as he congratulated the first 36 members of the reserve force to graduate.
Mr McDowell welcomed the decision of the Garda representative associations to accept the new reserve and said he believed gardaí on the beat accepted that the reserve would bring huge benefits to the force in terms of the resources at its disposal.
"I've met reservists on the street and I think they are wonderful people . . . those people who have the courage and commitment to volunteer for service to back up An Garda Síochána deserve our respect . . . it's a great honour to meet them because they are so dedicated."
Among the members of the Garda Reserve to graduate at the Garda College in Templemore, Co Tipperary, yesterday was Ke Sheng (29), a native of An San city in China who has been living in Dublin for the past five years.
"I would like to be in the regular force so I joined the reserve as a means of doing that," he said, adding that he planned to combine his volunteer role with the Garda at Pearse Street in Dublin with his computer and business studies and his part-time job as a chef.
"I've been out on patrol as part of my 40 hours' training and all my colleagues treated me very well . . . We were told to work four hours but probably I will do more - eight or 12 hours if the superintendent allows me to do more, so I can get more experience to join the regular force." He had already applied to join the full-time force and hopes to be called for interview in May or June.
Joining him at Pearse Street is Lisa Daly (30) of Glanmire in Co Cork, who works in IT but is considering a full-time career in the force. "When the reserves came up, I thought I can see what I'm getting myself into and if I like it, I can go on and join," she said. "The training went really well . . . We'll see how it goes, but so far I'm really enjoying it."
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