The National Diploma in Police Studies was awarded to 491 garda∅ at the training college in Templemore, Co Tipperary, yesterday.
It was the ninth annual conferring of garda∅ with diplomas since the Garda S∅ochβna College was designated a constituent college of the Higher Education and Training Awards Council.
Prof Ciarβn Murphy, chairman of the council, said the training had come a long way from when students did a 26-week course. "Senior officers in the force undertake a masters in police management," he said.
The Garda course had been cited in the Patten Commission on Policing in Northern Ireland along with police training in Canada as an internationally renowned course. "These newly acquired qualifications should also enhance their contribution to the quality of life in the communities they serve."
Quoting Martin Luther King, he said peace was more than the absence of war, it was the presence of justice.
"I look forward to these young, highly educated police officers continuing the commitment to that form of peace within Ireland." The assistant garda commissioner, Mr Fachta Murphy, said the need for education and academic achievement in conjunction with job skills and training was necessary to meeting new policing challenges.