'My life is on hold' - Garda waiting years for transfer may have to quit force

A Garda waiting almost two years for a transfer to a different station has said he may have to quit the force to move on with his life.

The Garda stationed in the east of the country wishes to remain anonymous but told us that his “life is on hold” as a result of the seemingly endless delays in the Garda transfer process. He needs to move to another part of the country for family reasons but is now at the mercy of a system that appears to be at a standstill.

Gardaí are randomly assigned to a Garda station when they leave their training course at Templemore but can request a transfer after their probationary period.

A Garda statement on the matter confirms: “A Garda may apply for a transfer once he/she has completed his/her probationary period. However, if a Garda member has under 5 years of service they cannot be within 80 km of their home station.

“The restriction is 50km thereafter. The Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR) and the cities of Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Galway and Kilkenny are exempt from this rule however this is no guarantee that if you are from these areas you will be based near home.”

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The garda member we spoke to has more than five years experience and filed a transfer request over 18 months ago given family circumstances. He has been waiting ever since with no update provided.

He said: “We [gardaí] basically put in the request on paper and then wait. It could be 12 months before you’re transferred or it could be 6 or 7 years. You never know, so can never plan for anything.

“You literally don't know where you could be working or living in the future. Then when kids come along, there is the school issue, where do you send them? Do you rent forever while waiting to be moved or do you buy?

“The whole process creates a lot of stress on top of an already stressful job. My life is effectively on hold now. It seems like management and more senior members believe that, well that’s the way it is, we all did it so suck it up, but those days should be gone. They should be trying to retain the members they have, not giving them reasons to leave.”

This comes at a time of record resignations from An Garda Síochána. 147 members quit the force in 2023 and that number is likely to be exceeded in 2024. The issue has been raised politically multiple times.

In a statement earlier this year, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said: “I am absolutely committed to working with all members of An Garda Síochána at all ranks and levels to address the issues of concern to them. I am committed to working with the Garda Commissioner as well to make sure gardaí have the resources they need to do their extremely important work of keeping people safe.

“I will now set out the facts in relation to resignations. While we have seen an increase in the number of gardaí resigning, and I do not want to see that increase continuing, the figures are still low, objectively, in comparison with other police organisations.

“The rate of resignations is running at around 1%. There has been an increase of 0.3% since 2022. In saying that, I am not dismissing the fact that there has been an increase. In comparison with other policing organisations and given the fact that we are at full employment, it is, however, a relatively low number, albeit one we want to see decrease.

“People choose to change careers for a wide variety of reasons. Younger people, in particular, are less likely to spend 30 or 40 years in the same job. We are probably all in that situation and every industry is seeing movement in a way that did not happen in times past. An Garda Síochána is no different in that regard.

“It is often the case that they leave to go to other parts of the public service, which is welcome for the institutions or agencies in question but we obviously want to do what we can to keep them in the force.”

The garda we spoke to said it was his childhood dream to become a garda and that he loves the job. “I don’t want to leave. I have wanted to be a garda since I was a child and here I am, contemplating whether I can stay. I’d be leaving for the betterment of my family, not because I hate the job, far from it. No amount of political spin can explain that feeling away.”

An Garda Síochána have been asked for further comment on the long wait times for Garda transfers.