A chara, Are our gardai guardians of the peace, or traffic wardens? It seems that their role is both, but should it be? At the Curragh racecourse on June 30th there were no less than 16 gardai in view (many others thereabouts), four to each roundabout and others on slip roads.
Their task for seven to eight hours that Sunday was to keep the traffic moving. Is this what they are highly trained for? Surely there would be more sense in having a force to deal with traffic movements at sporting events held at weekends throughout Ireland.
How about a combined traffic warden/control force under the auspices of the local county council? Less expensive and quicker to train, thereby freeing our Garda for the more important role of catching the criminals. Is this common sense? No, just too simple a solution. Yours, etc., Greenane, Rathdrum, Co Wicklow.