by Alan Jacques
LIMERICK people are being encouraged to consider a career with the Gardaí with applications now open for 600 new positions in the police force.
The latest recruitment drive will increase the number of new Gardaí to 1,150 since the reopening of the Templemore training centre in September 2014. Applications are being accepted on www.publicjobs.ie until January 5 next.
Fine Gael General Election candidate for County Limerick, Cllr Tom Neville, is now encouraging Limerick people to apply.
“So far, 295 new recruits have completed their training and are now are on the ground in communities nationwide as fully fledged members of An Garda Síochána. It is expected that successful candidates from the 2016 campaign will enter the Garda College from mid-2016,” Cllr Neville explained.
“Serving as a member of An Garda Síochána is a great privilege, but the position comes with great responsibility. I know that there are many capable and ambitious people in County Limerick who would make an excellent contribution to the force and I would encourage anyone interested to apply.”
The Adare-Rathkeale councillor sees the ongoing recruitment of Gardaí as testament to this Government’s commitment to supporting An Garda Síochána and to ensuring that they have the resources necessary to protect our communities.
“It is essential that we keep the recovery going so that we can continue to invest in public services and to provide resources for An Garda Síochána who do such valuable work.”
Meanwhile, Limerick Fianna Fáil TD Niall Collins welcomed the fact that there will be a special stream for members of the Garda Reserve to apply for posts in the new recruitment campaign.
Deputy Collins, who is his party’s Justice spokesman, said that members of the Garda Reserve play an extremely important role in assisting Gardaí on a daily basis and bolstering their community presence.
“I believe this work should be credited and count positively towards an application for the new Garda posts.
“At the end of September the strength of the Garda Reserve was 1,014 and there were an additional 21 Reserves in training. The principal role for Reserves consists of local patrols and crime reduction initiatives in both urban and rural areas. This has been a very important structure of our policing regime since it was introduced by a Fianna Fáil-led Government almost ten years ago”, he added.
