RANK-AND-FILE gardaí want a national debate before a proposal to arm some uniformed members of the force is taken any further.
The Garda Representative Association (GRA) will use its annual delegate conference, which opens tonight in Tullow, Co Carlow, to debate if plans to arm more members should be abandoned.
Delegates will hear calls for the present situation, where no uniformed gardaí are ever called upon to use firearms, to be maintained.
Under current proposals, uniformed gardaí would be given firearms. They would not carry them on their person, but would keep them locked in the boot of their vehicles.
Whenever an incident arose necessitating an armed response, it is envisaged the members would change out of their uniforms into plain clothes, seek permission to arm themselves from their superior officers, and respond to the situation appropriately.
The proposal follows a recommendation from the Garda Inspectorate, which advises on the development of the Garda force, that “second-tier” armed units be established across the State. These, it was recommended, would contain any serious armed incident pending the arrival of the Emergency Response Unit.
The recommendation was made after the Garda Inspectorate, headed by Chief Insp Kathleen O’Toole, reviewed the report of the Barr tribunal on the shooting dead by gardaí in Abbeylara, Co Longford, of John Carthy.
The proposal is on trial and, depending on the outcome, would be rolled out across the State in teams called “regional support units”.
However, the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors has already expressed concern about the plan.
It wants plain-clothes Garda members to continue carrying firearms but wants assurances that uniformed gardaí will not, under any circumstances, be required to carry firearms. GRA delegates are likely to voice similar concerns during the debate at their conference.
Delegates are also to debate a number of motions on the benchmarking process, under which members of the force got no pay increases.
Delegates will hear calls for the GRA to lodge a claim for a substantial pay rise and also ballot its members on withdrawing from the benchmarking process.
The role of the Garda Ombudsman Commission, which investigates complaints against members of the force, will also be debated. Some delegates have tabled a motion calling for a debate on any difficulties gardaí have had with the commission, which has been operating for 11 months.
Delegates will also hear an address on policing issues from new the GRA president, Michael O’Boyce. Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy and Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan will address delegates tomorrow afternoon.
