A LIMERICK Garda has issued an “alarming” warning that Garda drugs unit personnel in County Limerick have been completely depleted.
Despite the crisis of Garda resources, Garda Headquarters said drug detection across the Limerick Garda Division increased by nine per cent on last year.
Limerick Garda and former president of the Garda Representative Association (GRA), Frank Thornton, issued the stark warning that “there is no Divisional Drugs Unit out the county”.
Garda Thornton said that “resourcing in An Garda Síochána remains critical” and that “recruitment intakes are not matching the retirement and resignation numbers”.
“Locally, this is evident with the depleting resources in the Limerick Division, who have a net loss so far (on) 2025 in personnel. The Divisional Drugs Unit has not escaped unscathed with the unit strength depleted over the past number of years,” Garda Thornton said.
Garda Thornton claimed that Gardaí attached to the Divisional Drugs Unit, based in Limerick City, “are covering a vast area with minimal resourcing which is alarming”.
“There is no end in sight presently to the chronic personnel shortage, and any additional resources would come from an already threadbare front line service,” he further warned.
This comes despite reports in this newspaper last week that, according to local Fianna Fáil TD Willie O’Dea, an additional 20 Gardaí are to be stationed in Limerick out of the batch of 150 recent graduates of the Garda training college in Templemore.
Deputy O’Dea welcomed the intake in a social media post, in which he said Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan confirmed to him the new Garda numbers for Limerick.
The stark revelation this week by Garda Thornton comes on foot of concerns expressed last month by Fine Gael councillor for Adare Rathkeale, Adam Teskey, an outgoing chairperson of Limerick City and County Council’s Joint Policing Committee, who branded the shortage of drug squad Gardaí in rural Limerick as “bizarre”.
On July 18, Cllr Teskey warned that drug dealing and drug abuse have been left to flourish as a result of a depletion in the force’s rural drugs unit in the county.
“Who in their right mind in An Garda Síochána or the government would take away the very resource you need to combat drug crime in our communities – this is bizarre,” Cllr Teskey hit out at the time.
The West Limerick councillor said the drugs “scourge” on rural and urban communities was “an absolute pandemic of a problem that is escalating and escalating”.
A number of Garda sources familiar with the operations of the Divisional Drugs Unit backed up Garda Thornton and Cllr Teskey’s comments.
A statement provided by the Garda Press Office said that “there is a Divisional Drug Unit in Limerick that is responsible for the investigation of drug offences across the Division” but that, “for operational reasons, An Garda Síochána does not comment on current or future deployment of resources”.
The force’s official statement on the matter continued that “it should also be noted that detections in possession of drugs for sale or supply has increased by nine per cent year to date”.
The statement continued that the countywide Limerick Division is currently policed by 609 Gardaí of all ranks and that “Gardaí in Limerick have extensive experience in tackling organised crime and disrupted and dismantled many gangs now and in the past”.
It described as “a complex process” managing deployment of resources “with over 560 Garda Stations” nationally.
The statement said the allocation of Garda resources is “kept under constant review”, and argued that “An Garda Síochána, as a family-friendly organisation, also has responsibilities for supporting individual employees’ circumstances and statutory work-life balance policies”.
“In emergency situations, or urgent Garda assistance is required, the public should always contact 999/112,” the statement said.
The official Garda response added that the Limerick public was being served by a “dedicated cohort” of Gardaí and Garda staff “supported by their regional and national colleagues and will continue to support and work with local communities, detecting and preventing rural crime issues, which we understand does impact on the feeling of personal and community safety”.
“It should be noted that divisional resources are supported by regional resources (such as the Regional Armed Support Unit and Cyber Crime Unit) and national units where required,” the official Garda response concluded.
