Gardaí vow not to co-operate with new reserve
Gardaí tonight pledged not to co-operate with the proposed Garda volunteer force, despite warnings that they would be defying the law.
Justice Minister Michael McDowell plans to recruit around 900 volunteers into the Garda Reserve by September to carry out policing duties in the presence of uniformed gardai.
But at a protest meeting in Sligo, the Garda Representative Association (GRA) and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) said they would not co-operate with it.
“I find it hard to control my anger when I think about what the minister is proposing. It is a direct attack on the force which has been in the front line of defending this state since its inception in 1922,” said AGSI president Joe Dirwan.
The Garda Reserve will carry out tasks such as station duty, foot patrols, road traffic checkpoints, community policing and major event policing in co-operation with uniformed gardai.
But the proposal has led to the biggest clash between Mr McDowell and the garda unions since he took office four years ago. Without their co-operation, the Garda Reserve will be unworkable.
