Garda

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Garda (pl. Gardai)Síochána (Civic Guard), established in February 1922 to police all of independent Ireland outside Dublin city, which until 1925 remained the preserve of the autonomous Dublin Metropolitan Police. Intended initially as an armed body analogous to the Royal Irish Constabulary, the force had a disastrous first year: unrest amongst recruits culminated in mutiny in August 1922. The charismatic Eoin O'Duffy then reconstructed the force as a mainly unarmed one which would police by consent. The force quickly won widespread public acceptance, which it still generally retains in the very different circumstances of the present day. The problem of political policing was addressed by the establishment of a Special Branch distinct from the uniformed force.

The Gárda Síochána has always operated under the direct control of the Department of Justice. Promotions above the rank of inspector have to be approved by the government, and allegedly are sometimes subject to party political influence. Furthermore, a number of its commissioners, including Michael Staines in 1922, O'Duffy in 1933, Edmund Garvey in 1977, and Patrick McLaughlin in 1983, were forced out because of their handling of issues with a political dimension.

Since the early 1960s the progressive urbanization and modernization of Irish society has created new policing problems. The Gárdai have had to deal not only with periodic resurgences of political crime, but with the corrosive social effects of urban deprivation. Drug‐related crime has become a major feature of inner‐city life, while public confidence in the force has slipped even if public respect remains high. The force has grown as crime has risen, from about 2,000 men in 1922 to some 6,000 in 1969, and to about 11,000 men and women in 1994. The 1960s saw the emergence of powerful representative associations, in effect trade unions. These have since succeeded in turning a policeman's lot into a wellpaid if not a happy one.

Eunan O'Halpin

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