THERE is to be a “surge” in Garda numbers at the Limerick Garda Division in the coming days, with over 30 new members of the force to be assigned to stations across the county from the end of next week.
That’s according to County Limerick TD and Minister of State at the Justice Department, Niall Collins.
Minister Collins said that the number will include a cohort of “probationers” from the latest batch of graduates of the Garda college in Templemore – designated from the passing out ceremony of 170 new Gardaí taking place in Templemore this coming Friday (February 6) – along with a number of “experienced Gardaí” being transferred to Limerick stations offset by graduates being assigned to other stations from the Garda college.
Minister Collins said that Limerick stations are due to receive more than 30 extra Gardaí as a result.
This comes following 20 new Gardaí being assigned to Limerick City last August from a previous Templemore graduation. There were protestations at the time from County Limerick Independent Ireland TD Richard O’Donoghue that no new force members were assigned at the time for the county, with Deputy O’Donoghue calling for greater “parity”.
Now, Minister Collins said that “over 30 additional Gardaí for Limerick stations is hugely welcome for our communities right across county Limerick. Each one will be working to make our communities be and feel safe.”
“The most recent data available, from November, shows that there are 607 Gardaí assigned to the Limerick Division, which is a net increase of 25 since the beginning of last year and an increase of 53, which is about 10 per cent, since 2015,” he said.
“The Garda Commissioner also assigned 30 probationer Gardaí to Limerick during 2025, which is the highest annual allocation since 2020.”
The Minister explained that “there are 35 Gardaí assigned to the Garda roads policing unit, an increase of five since the start of last year, and there are 32 designated community Gardaí, an increase of two since the start of last year”.
“Additionally, we have 71 Garda civilian staff assigned to the Limerick Division, which is freeing up a huge amount of time and resources of sworn Gardaí to be devoted to front-line policing.”
The probationer Gardaí will be assigned to Limerick City at Henry Street and Roxboro Garda Stations, which Minister Collins said “gives Limerick Garda management increased policing capacity and resources at their disposal, allowing them to deploy these policing resources and Gardaí to areas right around the county”.
“The experienced Gardaí that are transferring will be assigned to stations right around the county, meaning communities right across Limerick will see and feel the hard work being done by Gardaí to keep them safe.”