AS newly graduated members of An Garda Síochána celebrate in Templemore this Friday (August 22), 20 of them are now preparing to begin their careers in Limerick City.
154 new recruits celebrated their passing out ceremony in Tipperary today, 20 of whom will take up positions at two Garda Stations in the city, as announced last month.
Fianna Fáil TD for Limerick City and former Minister for Defence Willie O’Dea announced last month that the batch of new Garda recruits for Limerick was part of a bid to tackle the ongoing drug scourge and rising levels of anti-social behaviour in the city.
Today, it was confirmed that 14 new recruits, fresh from Templemore, will be stationed in Henry Street Garda Station, while six will be posted in Roxboro.
Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan congratulated the 154 new Gardaí graduating from Templemore this morning, saying that “we are fortunate in this country that every community wants to see more Gardaí visible in their area. It is one of the most effective measures we have for preventing crime and making people feel safer.”
Out of the 154 new recruits, 122 are men and 32 are women.
This marks the largest allocation of new Gardaí to regions outside of Dublin the past year, with the majority being assigned to communities in South and Northwest of the country.
66, which include the 20 new recruits allocated for Limerick, will be based in the Southern Region, with another 20 new recruits also confirmed for Cork City.
423 new Gardaí have graduated from the college so far so this year with a further 371 trainees who have entered the Garda College for training in 2025.
It has also been confirmed by Minister O’Callaghan that another 201 Garda recruits will enter the Garda College next week to begin their training.
“An increased and visible Garda presence is central to the government’s aim to build safe and secure communities. The high number of applications for recent Garda recruitment campaigns is evidence of the strong interest that there is to join and serve in An Garda Síochána.”
The Minister also paid tribute to outgoing Garda Commissioner Drew Harris who will step down from the role at the end of this month for his “hard work, commitment and dedication over the past seven years”.
“He has implemented some of the widest ranging reforms of the organisation in its history and leaves a legacy of tangible improvements.”
