Just six new Gardaí have been allocated to the North Western region which includes Galway, from the 102 new members attested today.
This morning, in a ceremony at Templemoore, 102 Gardaí were attested as sworn members.
The bulk of those probationary Gardaí have been allocated to Dublin, 61 of the total, with a further 23 to the eastern region, 12 to the south, and just six for the North Western region.
This area, headquartered in Murrough, includes the Galway, Mayo/Roscommon/Longford, Cavan/Monaghan, and Donegal/Sligo/Leitrim divisions.
However, these allocation are initially to training Garda stations, and An Garda Síochána has said allow for “consequential inter-divisional transfers” of other members.
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said, “The training to become a Garda is demanding under any normal circumstances.”
“But undertaking the programme during the public health crisis will have made it all the more challenging for this intake of 102 trainees.”
“Each one came forward to pursue a career in An Garda Síochána at a critical and uncertain time so from the very outset they have shown their ability and commitment to protecting the public.”
“I admire their personal strength and dedication in seeing the programme through to today’s attestation.”
These recruits started their training in September 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic, and have undertaken a blend of online learning, on-site learning in the Garda College, and experiential learning in training Garda stations.
The newly sworn members brings the total number of Gardaí to 14,396, with a further 81 officers in training at the Garda College.
Of the newly sworn officer, 64 are men and 38 are women, with 16 of them born outside the state, in New Zealand, Lithuania, Angola, Croatia, Poland, England, Northern Ireland, Guatemala, Saudi Arabia, and Scotland.
