After years of delays it appears the process of fundamentally reorganising Irish policing is gathering steam.
Garda Headquarters on Monday announced the latest phase of the rollout of the new Garda Operating Model, with the merging of Co Clare and Co Tipperary into a single policing division. This is part of a nationwide, and sometimes controversial, amalgamation and rationalisation of policing regions and divisions.
With its corporate-sounding buzzwords – under the new system superintendents will be in charge of areas such as “business services” and “performance and assurance” rather than individual stations – the public can be forgiven for not paying too much attention to what is going on. However, for better or worse, it is likely to significantly change the way policing is delivered.
The Garda Operating Model is based on the recommendations of the Commission on the Future of Policing, which was set up in the wake of a series of controversies in An Garda Síochána. Among the many recommendations in its final report in 2018 was having fewer Garda divisions and the placement of specialised services at local as well as national level.
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Under the original implementation plan, the number of Garda regions and divisions were to drop from six to four and 28 to 19 respectively.
According to Garda management, this process will not result in any interruption to policing services and, once complete, will result in more gardaí being dedicated to frontline duties and better availability of specialised responses in areas such as domestic and sexual abuse and cybercrime.
That is the idea anyway. Garda representative associations, local politicians and community safety groups have objected to the plan on several grounds. They argue that the reforms will mean less community policing and will group together areas, such as Leitrim and Sligo, which have different policing needs.
Garda Headquarters has listened to at least some of these complaints. Two weeks ago it announced a partial reversal. Instead of 19 divisions, there will be 21 and, crucially, Donegal will remain as a stand-alone division. This came about following a review of the rollout of the model and changes in populations since it was first announced, a Garda spokesman said.
That is probably the last good news for critics of the new model. After much delay, partially caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the new approach is already fully operational in Limerick, Kerry, Cork city, Galway, Dublin South Central and Mayo/Roscommon/Longford. Sources say no further amendments to the rollout are planned.