EVER WONDERED IF you’d pass the Garda fitness test? 

It’s been variously claimed that the two-part test is either too easy or – as Fianna Fáil Justice spokesman Jim O’Callaghan contends – too difficult. 

The Garda Commissioner has been pulling out all the stops recently in a bid to raise force numbers above the 15,000 target set out by Government. 

At the moment, he’s around 1,000 shy of that mark. The shuttering of the Garda College at Templemore during Covid had a major impact on the overall figure, and the number is continuing to dwindle due to retirements and the resignations of younger members.

As part of the bid to up those numbers the age limit for recruitment was recently increased from 35 to 50, while the weekly training allowance saw an increase from €184 to €305.

In a further effort to drive those applications – 48 hours out from the deadline for the latest campaign – the nation’s media were invited to spend the day at Templemore to subject themselves to that much-debated fitness test. 

Foundation Training and Development specialist Sergeant Pat Kirwan put the 'recruits' through their paces at Templemore today. Niall Carson Niall Carson

Count the bleeps

After a morning briefing (we were assured we’d enjoy the day and “even have some fun”, then reassured we wouldn’t have to take the standard drug test) the journalists taking part in the exercise were shepherded into a large PE hall to be put through our paces. 

The dreaded ‘bleep test’ was the first item on the agenda.

A particularly unforgiving drill, it involves running continuously between two points spaced 20 metres apart. The time allowed to cross the floor gradually decreases until candidates begin to drop out.

It’s measured on a sliding scale. 24-year-olds and 44-year-olds have different targets to achieve – and the target for men is higher than for women.

Most of the participants found it tough, however – and even those who comfortably made it through reckoned you’d need to be taking part in some kind of basic training to be sure of sealing progress. 

The dreaded 'bleep test' required participants to run back and forth in an ever-narrowing time window. Niall Carson Niall Carson

How many sit-ups in 60 seconds? 

As the various ‘recruits’ fell by the wayside, one member of the Garda Press Office who had clearly had his fill of Weetabix continued to canter back and forth against the beeps in the PE hall long after everyone else had dropped out. 52-year-old Sean Mac Seoin – a keen runner – eventually ambled to a halt when it became clear the stopwatch was likely to run down its batteries before he was. 

The field began to thin out in the next room, where we were required to finish a specific number of sit-ups within 60 seconds and then hit a target for press-ups. 

Again, it was measured on a sliding scale and the targets were different for men and women. (Without getting into specifics The Journal was, at this stage, well out of contention for a fictional place in Templemore having managed to miss the target for all three tests and somehow forget the target for the bleep test to boot). 

Sergeant Kirwan times reporters during the sit-up section. Niall Carson Niall Carson

Not outstanding in their field 

The number of journalists still notionally in contention for one of the imagined spots in Templemore had fallen of a cliff by the time we arrived in a separate venue for the final part of the test. 

The concluding part of the exam was a slightly surreal obstacle course including tasks like jumping a farm gate, lifting a spare wheel and pulling a mannequin across a room.

While the set-up may have appeared a little bizarre at first glance, Garda Press Office boss Liam Geraghty assured us it was all perfectly sensible and practical.

“It’s a test of their agility and balance – the sort of thing members may experience on a day-to-day basis, just at a slightly higher level.”

“You could be walking on the beach and be asked to help change a spare tyre. You could be asked to lift somebody off the ground. You will maybe have to chase somebody and climb over a wall or a gate.”

The Journal's Daragh Brophy takes on a farm gate. NIall Carson NIall Carson

Plain sailing? 

Reporters were given the opportunity to speak to a handful of new recruits during breaks in proceedings. While neither of the women who spoke to The Journal – both now well into their training at Templemore – had much of a problem passing the physical tests, one acknowledged there were plenty of sections where an underprepared candidate could find themselves missing the mark (the second recruit, who qualified as a physical trainer before joining the guards, had no qualms about saying she pretty much sailed through). 

The debate about whether the test is too difficult is unlikely to be settled anytime soon. As far as the head of rank-and-file members organisation the GRA is concerned, however, it’s a proven method of making sure candidates have the kind of basic fitness needed to do the job of a modern Garda.

And while recruiters have acknowledged there’s a failure rate of up to 35%, they’ve also been keen to point out that anyone who successfully applies for Templemore as part of the current campaign won’t have to complete the test until sometime in the summer. 

As Liam Geraghty put it: “It will be five, maybe six months before you’re called to do it – so get out walking, get running, maybe join a local sportsclub or a gym.”