A member of the motorcycle unit of the Garda Síochána.

Garda Síochána na hÉireann (English: "The Guardians of the Peace of Ireland"), commonly known as the Garda Síochána or simply the Gardaí, is the national police force of the Republic of Ireland. The force is headed by the Garda Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. The headquarters of the force are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin. File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... A car of the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary, England Police forces are government organisations charged with the responsibility of maintaining law and order. ... The Government (Irish: Rialtas) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in the Republic of Ireland. ... The Wellington Monument in Phoenix Park The Phoenix Park (in Irish, Páirc an Fhionn-Uisce) is a large park near the outskirts of Dublin City, Ireland. ... Dublin (Irish: Baile Átha Cliath1),is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Ireland, located2 near the midpoint of Irelands east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin region3. ...

Terminology

As a force the term Garda is used, whilst the plural Irish word gardaí is used when referring to members of the force collectively. The guards is also sometimes used colloquially. A female officer was once commonly referred to as a bangharda, but this term is less common now, and an officer, male or female, is usually simply called a garda.

Organisation

The force is headed by the Commissioner. His immediate subordinates are the two Deputy Commissioners, who are in charge respectively of Strategic and Resource Management and Operations. Strategic and Resource Management primarily deals with national organisational and technical matters and does not deal with crime directly, the majority of operational and staffing matters coming under Operations. There are ten Assistant Commissioners: six are geographically based, and the others are assigned to various national support roles. A civilian Director of Finance is placed at a similar organisational level to the Assistant Commissioners. A Commissioner is one of various classes of persons who holds an office by virtue of a commission in the normally from the head of state, particularly of a state in the Commonwealth of Nations. ... A civilian is a person who is not a member of a military. ...

The six geographical Assistant Commissioners command the six force Regions, currently Dublin Metropolitan, Eastern, Northern, Southern, South-Eastern and Western Regions. Below the Assistant Commissioners are approximately twenty-five Chief Superintendents, who supervise Divisions. Each Division contains a number of Districts, each of which is commanded by a Superintendent, who is assisted by a number of Inspectors. Each District has a number of Subdistricts, which are usually commanded by Sergeants. Chief Superintendent (Ch Supt; colloquially Chief Super) is a senior rank in the British Police. ... A division was until recently the largest territorial subdivision of most British Police forces, similar to a precinct in American city police departments. ... A superintendent is an individual that has executive oversight and administration rights, usually within an educational entity or organization. ... Inspector is a rank in many police forces. ... This article is about the rank of sergeant. ...

Typically each Subdistrict contains only one station. A varying number of Gardai will be based at each station depending on its importance. Most of these hold the basic rank of Garda (the equivalent of Constable in British police forces). The most junior members of the force are Students, whose duties vary depending on their training progress and who are often given clerical duties if assigned to a station when not in college. A police station is a building which serves as the headquarters of a police force or unit which serves a specific district. ... A Constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly that of law-enforcement. ... The British police are a group of similar but independent police services which operate in the United Kingdom. ...

The force also has approximately 1,000 civilian support staff, including a Chief Medical Officer. These civilian posts include a diverse range of professionals, such as administrative staff, accounting staff, drivers, information technology staff, photographers, researchers and teachers. In the fictional Star Trek universe, the Chief Medical Officer is a medical professional, typically a physician who is the highest ranking member of a Starfleet installation or vessels medical staff. ...

An unarmed force

Uniformed members of An Garda Síochána do not carry firearms. However around 1,700 plainclothes detective Gardai do, as do members of the Special Branch. It is a tradition of the service that standard policing should be carried out in both rural and urban areas by uniformed officers equipped only with a wooden truncheon. This has been the situation since 1922 when the first Commissioner, Michael Staines, declared "The Garda Síochána will succeed not by force of arms or numbers, but on their moral authority as servants of the people". Some firearms A firearm is a kinetic energy weapon that fires either a single or multiple projectiles propelled at high velocity by the gases produced by action of the rapid confined burning of a propellant. ... Special Branch is the arm of the British and many Commonwealth police forces that deals with national security matters. ...

The Scott Medal

The Scott Medal for Bravery is the highest honour for bravery and valour which can be awarded to a member of the Garda Síochána. The first medals were funded by General Walter Scott, an honorary Commissioner of the New York Police Department¹. To mark the United States link, the American English spelling of valor is used on the medal. The Commissioner of An Garda Síochána chooses the recipients of the medal, which is presented by the Minister for Justice. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) , the largest police department in the United States, has primary responsibility for law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City. ... American English or U.S. English is the form of the English language used mostly in the United States of America. ... The Minister for Justice, Equality & Law Reform is the chief minister in charge of law and order in the Republic of Ireland. ...

In 2000, Anne McCabe, widow of Garda Gerry McCabe, who was murdered by the Provisional IRA while it was officially on ceasefire, accepted the Scott Medal for Bravery that had been awarded posthumously to her husband². 2000 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Provisional Irish Republican Army (commonly referred to as the IRA) is a paramilitary group which has attempted, through violence, to achieve two goals: British military withdrawal from Ireland, the political unification of Ireland and the creation of an all-Ireland socialist republic. ... A ceasefire is a temporary stoppage of a war, for any of various reasons. ...

Policing overseas

Since 1989 An Garda Síochána has undertaken United Nations peace-keeping duties. Its first overseas mission was a 50 strong contingent sent to Namibia. Since then the force has acted in Angola, Cambodia, Cyprus, Mozambique, South Africa and the former Yugoslavia. The Garda's first fatality was Sergeant Paul M. Reid, who was fatally injured while on duty with the United Nations UNPROFOR at "Sniper's Alley" in Sarajevo on 18 May 1995. The United Nations, or UN, is an international organization established in 1945 and now made up of 191 states. ... The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was a Balkan state that existed from 1945 to 1992. ... Pocket badge of the UNPROFOR The United Nations Protection Force, UNPROFOR, were the primary UN peacekeeping troops in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav wars. ... View of Sarajevo from the east. ... May 18 is the 138th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (139th in leap years). ... 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

History

New Garda recruits salute the President, Tostal 1954

The Civic Guard was formed by the Provisional Government in February 1922, to replace the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) and take over the responsibility of policing the fledgling Irish Free State. In August 1922 the force accompanied Michael Collins when he met the Lord Lieutenant in Dublin Castle³. Tostal 1954, outside the GPO, Dublin, Ireland. ... Tostal 1954, outside the GPO, Dublin, Ireland. ... The (Irish) Civic Guard was formed by the Provisional Government of Ireland in February 1922, to replace the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) and take over the responsibility of policing the fledgling Irish Free State. ... This article is about the pre-Free State Provisional Government. ... 1922 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC), was one of Irelands two police-forces in the early twentieth century, alongside the Dublin Metropolitan Police. ... The Irish Free State (Irish: Saorstát Éireann) was (1922–1937) the name of the state comprising the 26 of Irelands 32 counties which were separated from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland under the Irish Free State Agreement (or Anglo-Irish Treaty) signed by British and Irish... Michael Collins (Irish: Micheál Ó Coileáin; October 16, 1890 – August 22, 1922), an Irish revolutionary leader, served as Minister for Finance in the Irish Republic, as a member of the Irish delegation during the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations, as Chairman of the Provisional Government and as Commander-in-Chief of... Official standard of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (also known as the Viceroy or in the Middle Ages as the Lord Deputy) was the head of Englands (pre-1707) or Britains (post 1707) administration in Ireland. ... Dublin Castle in Dublin, Ireland was the seat of British rule in Ireland until 1922. ...

The Garda Síochána Act, (known also as the Temporary Provisions Act) enacted after the creation of the Irish Free State on the 8 August 1923⁴, provided for the creation of "a force of police to be called and known as 'The Garda Síochána'". Under section 22, The Civic Guard were deemed to have been established under and to be governed by the Act. The law therefore effectively renamed the existing force. August 8 is the 220th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (221st in leap years), with 145 days remaining. ... 1923 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

In Dublin, policing remained the responsibility of the capital's own local police force, the Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) until 1925. In that year the DMP merged with the Garda Síochána, and since then the Garda has been the only police force in the state now known as the Republic of Ireland. Dublin (Irish: Baile Átha Cliath1),is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Ireland, located2 near the midpoint of Irelands east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin region3. ... The Dublin Metropolitan Police was formed in 1836, after twenty years of attempts to create an effective policing force in Ireland Rural policing in Ireland began when Chief Secretary for Ireland, Robert Peel created the Peace Preservation Force in 1816. ... 1925 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Garda commissioners

The first Commissioner, Michael Staines, held office for only eight months. It was his successors, Eoin O'Duffy and Eamon Broy, who played a central role in the development of the force. Broy had greatly assisted the IRA during the War of Independence, while serving with the DMP. O'Duffy later became a short-lived Irish quasi-fascist political leader of the 'Blueshirts' before heading to Spain to fight alongside Francisco Franco's Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War. Broy's fame grew in the 1990s when he featured in the film Michael Collins, in which it was misleadingly suggested that he had been murdered by the British during the War of Independence when in reality he lived for decades and headed the Garda Síochána from 1923 to 1938. General Eoin ODuffy (20 October 1892 - 30 November 1944), was the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána, leader of the quasi-fascist Blueshirts and the first (extra-parliamentary) leader of Fine Gael (1933-1934). ... IRA is an acronym with various meanings. ... An Irish War of Independence memorial in Dublin The Anglo-Irish War (also known as the Irish War of Independence) was a guerilla campaign mounted against the British government in Ireland by the Irish Republican Army. ... Fascism (in Italian, fascismo), capitalized, was the authoritarian political movement which ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. ... The Army Comrades Association (ACA), better known by its nickname The Blueshirts, was an Irish organisation set up by former police commissioner and army General Eoin ODuffy in the 1930s. ... Francisco Franco Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco y Bahamonde Salgado Pardo de Andrade (December 4, 1892 – November 20, 1975), abbreviated Francisco Franco Bahamonde and sometimes known as Generalísimo Francisco Franco, was dictator of Spain from 1939 until his death in 1975. ... History of Spain Series Prehistoric Spain Roman Spain Medieval Spain Age of Reconquest Age of Expansion Age of Enlightenment Reaction and Revolution First Spanish Republic The Restoration Second Spanish Republic Spanish Civil War The Dictatorship Modern Spain Topics Economic History Military History Social History The Spanish Civil War (July 1936... Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but keeping the same mind-set. ... Michael Collins is a semi-fictitious film released on October 11, 1996 about Michael Collins, the Irish patriot and revolutionary who died in the Irish civil war. ... An Irish War of Independence memorial in Dublin The Anglo-Irish War (also known as the Irish War of Independence) was a guerilla campaign mounted against the British government in Ireland by the Irish Republican Army. ... 1923 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1938 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...

One later Commissioner, Bradford-born Edward Garvey was famously sacked by the Government of Jack Lynch in 1978 without reason, other than a vague claim that the government had lost confidence in him. He took and won an 'unfair dismissal' legal case. The case made its way to the Supreme Court which found the action of the government improper. This outcome required the passing of the Garda Síochána Act, 1979 to retrospectively validate the actions of Garvey's successor since he had become Commissioner ⁵. His successor in turn, Patrick McLoughlin, was forced to resign along with his deputy in 1983 over his peripheral involvement in a political scandal. This article discusses the city Bradford, in West Yorkshire, England. ... John (Jack) Mary Lynch (Ir. ... 1978 was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... The Supreme Court (Irish: Chúirt Uachtarach) is the highest judicial authority in the Republic of Ireland. ... Patrick Allen McLoughlin (born 30 November 1957) is a British politician. ... 1983 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Allegations against the force

Traditionally the perception of the force within Ireland has been positive, especially when compared to the Royal Ulster Constabulary; however several scandals have undermined the force. One of the first charges of serious impropriety against the force rose out of the handling of the Sallins Train Robbery (March 1976); this case eventually lead to a serious miscarriage of justice and accusations of a "heavy gang" operating within the force which intimidated and tortured the accused. This eventually lead to a Presidential Pardon for one of the accused. Several less high profile scandals occurred over the next decade or so which further tarnished the force's reputation. The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. ... The Sallins Train Robbery occurred on 31 March 1976 when the Cork to Dublin mail train was robbed near Sallins in County Kildare, Republic of Ireland. ... A miscarriage of justice is primarily the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime that they did not commit. ... The President of Ireland (Irish: Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of the Republic of Ireland. ... A pardon is the forgiveness of a crime and the penalty associated with it. ...

In the 1990s and early 2000s An Garda Síochána faced a series of allegations, including suggestions of corrupt and dishonest policing in County Donegal (which is the subject of a judicial inquiry, the Morris Tribunal). The Morris Tribunal found that some County Donegal gardaí had invented an IRA informer, made bombs and claimed credit for locating them, and framed a Donegal night-club owner for drug-dealing and a publican for manslaughter. For other uses, see Donegal (disambiguation) Donegal (Irish: Dún na nGall) is a county in the northwest of Republic of Ireland. ... For other uses, see Donegal (disambiguation) Donegal (Irish: Dún na nGall) is a county in the northwest of Republic of Ireland. ...

In 2004, an RTÉ Prime Time documentary accused small elements within the Garda of abusing their powers by physically assaulting people arrested. A retired District Justice suggested that some members of the force had committed perjury in criminal trials before him, while a Minister of State (junior minister) accused police in one instance of "torture". The Garda Commissioner accused the television programme of lacking balance. Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ; English: Radio and Television of Ireland) is the national publicly-funded broadcaster of Ireland. ... Perjury is lying or making verifiably false statements under oath in a court of law. ... A Minister of State, in the Republic of Ireland, is a junior minister of non-cabinet rank, attached to one or more Departments of State of the the cabinet. ...

The Prime Time documentary followed hot on the heels of footage published by the Independent Media Centre Ireland showing attacks by Gardai on Reclaim the Streets party-goers ⁶. The subsequent acquital of one of the Gardai shown in these pictures has done much to undermine confidence in the legal system in the Republic of Ireland. Indymedia. ... Reclaim the Streets (RTS) is a group of people with a collective ideal of community ownership of public spaces. ...

Footnotes

1. See Walter Scott biography (http://www.esatclear.ie/~garda/wsbiog.html) from Esatclear.ie (http://www.esatclear.ie)
2. See: "Murdered garda hero honoured" (http://ted.examiner.ie/archives/2000/july/7/current/ipage_5.htm) from the Examiner (http://www.examiner.ie).
3. According to Irish constitutional theory he met the Lord Lieutenant to accept the surrender of Dublin Castle. However, as far as the British government were concerned, the purpose of the meeting was for the Lord Lieutenant to formally appoint Collins as Chairman of the Provisional Government.
4. See: Full text of the Act (http://193.178.1.79/1923_37.html).
5. See: Full text of the Act (http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1979_16.html).
6. See: "Garda Goes Berserk" (http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=3780) on indymedia.ie (http://www.indymedia.ie).

See also

• Criminal Assets Bureau
• Garda Síochána College
• GUBU
• Irish Army Rangers
• Police Service of Northern Ireland
• Royal Ulster Constabulary

Criminal Assets Bureau The Criminal Assets Bureau or CAB for short is a division of the Irish Police (Garda Síochána). ... Garda Síochána College (or Garda College) located at McCann Barracks, Templemore, County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland is the place at which members of An Garda Síochána (Irish police) receive formal education and training before commencing their duties as members of the force. ... GUBU was an acronym coined by Conor Cruise OBrien on foot of Charles Haugheys statement of a series of incidents, involving a double murder in 1982, having been grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented. ... The Irish Army Rangers (more formally known as the Irish Army Ranger Wing) are the special forces unit of the Army division of the Irish Defence Forces. ... The Standard of the PSNI The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is the police service that covers Northern Ireland. ... The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. ...

External links

• Official site - An Garda Síochána (http://www.garda.ie)
• History of Irish police forces (http://www.esatclear.ie/~garda/)
• Garda Complaints Board (http://www.oasis.gov.ie/justice/general/garda_siochana_complaints_board.html)
• Garda Headquarters, Phoenix Park, Dublin (http://www.archeire.com/buildings_ireland/dublin/northcity/phoenix_park/garda.html)
• Garda Museum, Dublin Castle (http://www.esatclear.ie/~garda/museum.html)
• Garda Síochána Bill, 2003 (http://www.feargalquinn.ie/bills/2003/garda(h).htm)
• Garda Síochána mission statement on community policing (http://www.business2000.ie/cases/cases/case2.htm)
• Morris Tribunal (http://www.morristribunal.ie)
• Report on the controversial shooting by armed detectives of John Carthy (http://longford.local.ie/content/31247.shtml)