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GARDAÍ IN RURAL parts of the country are calling for submachine guns to be made available at district level so they are not left waiting hours for armed back-up.
Speaking to reporters at the annual delegate conference of the Garda Representative Association (GRA), Garda Brendan O’Connor who is based in Donegal, said there is a particular need for arms to be made available to local units in border areas as they deal with roaming gangs and dissident activity.
“Ten years ago gardaí could scramble armed units at local level, the Uzi was available at local district level. It wasn’t deal, but it was a deterrent,” he explained.
We have an incident now, an incident happens on the Northern side, there’s been an incident, we need a response on this side. What do we have? A couple of detectives with a side arm for personal protection and no tactical training. It’s just simply not up to the threat and the danger that’s there.
He said cross border criminals have access to arms and “aren’t afraid to use them”.
“Our members are extremely vulnerable on the border without proper backup. We had an incident a few years back where a guy had a sword in north Inishowen. There was no regional support unit operating in Inishowen so the unit that had been tasked would come from Dundalk but can’t come through the North so they had to go to Sligo and drive up, possibly five hours driving on a blue-light run. It’s just, it’s not working.”
We need a deterrent. Our members need the confidence to know when they stand on the road and put up their hand whatever is coming along, whoever that person is, feels there will be consequences to their actions.
Our members feel that criminals and the cross border drug dealers and people of a political persuasion, they don’t take us seriously. They don’t see us as having the capabilities to take them on. They see us as weak. They see us as we see ourselves. Untrained. Ill-equipped and not enough numbers.
An Garda Síochána has committed to providing 24/7 armed cover across the country. While he said this is welcome O’Connor said the fact that the specialist armed units cannot reach more rural areas in a short space of time means there has to be a “contingency solution”.
He explained that with the old system, a garda with firearms training could be deployed with a long-armed weapon – like the Uzi submachine gun – at short notice to deal with the immediate danger until back-up arrived.
“It wasn’t perfect but it made perfect sense. We’ve an armed incident, we’ve tactically trained people on the way. They’re 45 minutes, an hour away. We can’t have an armed unit on every corner.
“But here we go, two gardaí locally can reach for their MP7 and be there on the ground to provide cover and protection for their colleagues. That’s all we’re asking for. We’ve a right to life just like everyone else.”
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Give the Gardai all they need to first of all protect themselves which they have an absolute right to.
Secondly,to be able to protect the public they serve and do a very good job at that.
Do they now have to wait until a Garda is stabbed or shot before they take action?
Why have they not been listened to?
This is an urgent matter.
More Guns….. That will solve the problem…. Or maybe, judges who will refuse bail and give good old long sentences to the bad guys!
@Jamie Jj Tobin: both will solve the problem. All gardai should be properly armed and have the liberty to use the firearms without scrutiny provided they act reasonably in the subjective sense.
@Andrew Tuite: We could end up becoming like the land of the free…. Officer, why did you shoot that unarmed man dead….. Sir, I feared for my life when he turned his back and ran away!
@Andrew Tuite: If that was the case McCabe would be shot long ago
@Andrew Tuite: how would it be known they acted reasonably without scrutiny?
@Jamie Jj Tobin: completely ignore the fact that they’ve had these guns for years and they were only recently discontinued. They weren’t shooting people for no good reason that time
@Jamie Jj Tobin: more guns….less need for judges ! makes sense. seriously, they will have to be armed, hoods now just don’t care, but maybe the threat of meeting a guard with a weapon will give them some thought.
@Andrew Tuite: You can’t possibly do away with scrutiny. As long as the use of firearms is lawful nobody should have any problem with a robust level of scrutiny, on the contrary, the better potential firearms incidents are investigated the stronger the vindication for the Gardai who had to resort to using them.
@Jamie Jj Tobin: why a choice? Why not both?
@Andrew Tuite: “without scrutiny”, “act reasonably”, “subjective” ???
No idea what kind of confused message your trying to convey
@Jamie Jj Tobin: You’re getting Ireland mixed up with the USA I think. Police have to be in a position to repond to criminal incidents promptly and with as much force as necessary to take control of the situation.
@Jamie Jj Tobin: What would you know about guns and shooting?
Older people in rural Ireland are like sitting ducks without any protection. Older people should be allowed to have Tasers to at least have a chance of defending themselves against ruthless gangs who donno give a feck.
@GO GREEN: Absolutely. Better than slasher hooks etc. Mind you I know a few who would use them on canvassers too. That would focus the minds of the politicos.
@GO GREEN: Nice idea but completely impractical if you’d any knowledge of working with tasers. Try teach an old person not to zap themselves. What happens with grandchild #1 blinds grandchild #2 with granny’s taser? What happens when homeowner kills burglar – pensioner is guilty of murder under the law. Tasers are valuable commodities – so burglars have new reason to target old people.
About time the Gardai were armed just like the PSNI.
@Gus Sheridan: this is correct
@Andrew Tuite: guards and guns have a bad record. Remember a time when government stated resources were used by subversive activity… when that largely came to an end..what happened.. the government cut garda funds.. A political trial carries a mandatory sentence… Yet the sentence of known criminal gang members is at the discretion of the courts. How many new laws regarding criminal actions have been introduced.. laws already on the book , but have never been activated. Now they want machine guns… Let them find the lost mobile phones first.
@Gus Sheridan: Nope. The aru’s and eru’s being increased I’ve no issue with but we do not need a fully armed forces.
@Donal Desmond:
The Gardai that are calling for these guns had absolutely nothing to do with lost phones. But don’t let that fact get in the way of your rant.
@Willie: the only thing I can see getting in the way of his rant is his atrocious use of the English language
@Ohhh_reeally: Surly you could respond with a comment relating to the subject being discussed.
@Willie: Certainly not a rant . In present climate regarding the alleged corrupt practices in the guards, Arming them certainly would not be in the public interest.
@Donal Desmond: Besides, we already have an army. No need for Gardaí to be expected to kill people. We do have an army. A defence force.
If it happens that the gardai are given this right, then every citizen in Ireland should also have the right to arm themselves…as we are all well aware, corruption exists at every level and the gardai are no exception.
@John O Connor: I agree, they must not be let loose the run of themselves to a greater degree. The reason rural crime is up is a combination of closing stations and a fall in numbers compounded by a lack of interest in small crime.
@John O Connor: Nah. Too many lunatics about to go all second amendment. There would be school shootings all over the shop.
That is not going to solve a problem. Complete overhaul of the whole system is needed. Things like people with 50 convictions in front of judge crying about hard childhood or substance abuse… Joke of a life sentence when a guy is out in just 6-7 years…
Guards can drive in tanks but that does not change the situation.
2/3 Gardai at least should be armed
With the increase in weapons comes the need for an increase in training .
New Zealand allowed front line officers carry weapons in cars .
In the10 years since this happened , they shot more people than in the previous 40 years .
https://interactives.stuff.co.nz/2017/11/under-fire/
@Clinton Baptiste: well they could hardly shoot people before they didn’t have guns to hand so this statistic is a bit obvious and meaningless really?
@Sean: Your logic is compelling.
@Sean: Not really. Less guns means less shootings. More guns means more people lose their life. I do agree that there should be more firearm trained Garda available around the country but not every guard should be armed.
How about Gardai in rural areas to go with the machine guns? Not much point in having equipment without the ability to use it
Train our Gardai so that they are competent in the use of firearms so that they have protection for themselves and us.
We know criminals are heavily armed and will not hesitate to use their weapons.
To effectively police, I feel our dedicated Guards should be at least able to shoot back.
“We need a deterrent” …Ireland doesn’t DO deterrents… in any facet of societal life. Would you not “incorporate” those Criminals into everyday life and be ‘ tolerant’ and ‘ inclusive’ ???
Don’t be denying them their ‘Rights”..
One does not simply kill the Goose that continuously lays the reofending golden Egg
@Ron: Legal profession does quite nicely out of these recidivists.
The annual Gardai whingefest goes on. I well remember the checkpoints with the branch men looming at the side with their uzis & beer bellies hanging over their belts, crooked as a four pound note, the lot of them. Loved handing out a few slaps when nobody was looking. The stench of drink off them would knock you sideways, if their boots hadn’t already done it. Yeah, let’s go back to those days
@Paul Devlin: sounds like you’re still stuck in them buddy!
2% of crime is committed by the same criminals and they are often let out on bail to commit more crimes. They probably pay 98% of the legal guys income.
Give them what they want! If they want Bazooka’s! Give them Bazooka”s! Anything to stop rural crime!
@George McCarthy: give home owners the right to shoot people on thier property. Forget about the gardai
@Stephen Devlin: spot on
A sub machine gun is not the answer. Highly inaccurate. A semi automatic rifle for accuracy or a pump action shotgun for shock affect.
This is all to do with terrorism,
@Elvis Polkasalad: the new kind
The Gardai and PSNI should amalgamate into an island wide body. Armed support units from Derry could service Inishowen and border chasing wouldn’t be a problem, cutting travel times to get to Donegal from the rest of the country.
A stirling response.
@Declan McArdle: northern Ireland, not Scotland, silly.
As much as I hate guns I’d prefer that they have them.
They should be trained and armed! They’re like sitting ducks and too vulnerable against criminals. Let them have what they need.
I cannot disagree with anytime in that story..it all makes perfect sense
Not against Garda being armed, but this lazy in efficient body of men and women are using this as an excuse. Normal cop on beat is useless in my experience, no motivation, no interest, no moral sense of right and wrong, just how do I get back to station for Tae!!
I’d push for grenades too!! Fail to prepare, prepare to fail!! Also Kevlar coated hummers with gun turrets.
MP5s with suppressors.
@neuromancer: MP7s like in the picture I think.
I don’t see why the Gardaí aren’t armed. I’m here in Japan and despite the largely peaceful society all police carry a service weapon. Ireland’s sadly troubled history always gives me pause to consider why they aren’t armed.
@David O’ Donoghue: from my time there I think the Japanese people are so orderly to begin with I’m now sure we’re enough in common to leverage their experience. The huge reduction in US crime since the 70′s was largely predicated on throwing away the keys on repeat offenders. Here, sentencing is a joke and people with 50 prior convictions is commonplace. Until criminals are removed from society crime won’t reduce – arming Gardai doesn’t make a difference if who they arrest walk free.
@David O’ Donoghue: It’s in the name. Gardaí Síochana; keepers of the peace. They aren’t soldiers.
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