Over 600 people of colour apply to become members of An Garda Síochána

Over 600 people of colour applied to become members of An Garda Síochána in the force's latest recruitment drive. 

The recruitment campaign - which launched on March 16 2022 - received a total of 11,075 applications, 8,570 of whom declared their ethnicity as 'White-Irish'. 

Recruitment of up to 800 new Gardai from the competition will take place this year and beyond. 

According to data released by An Garda Síochána, 55 people stated their ethnicity as 'Asian or Asian Irish - Chinese', an almost eight-fold increase in applications from this group compared to 2019. 

Three hundred and thirty two applicants said they were 'Asian or Asian Irish - Any Other Asian Background', a five-fold increase from just 68 applicants two years prior. 

One hundred and thirty two said they were 'Black or Black Irish-African', marking an almost seventeen-fold increase in applications. 

A further 122 said they were 'Other including Mixed Background' and over 1,100 did not disclose ethnicity or preferred not to say. 

Almost 600 applicants declared their ethnicity as 'White-Any Other White Background', up from 347 in 2019, while 43 said they were 'White-Irish Traveller', up from 14 in the same year. 

Those attesting today are receiving their ID cards from Commissioner Harris and Minister McEntee.

Watch the ceremony live via the following link. https://t.co/teMWhXKPww#Garda100 pic.twitter.com/W7lni0VOGk

— Garda Info (@gardainfo) May 19, 2022

Seventy one applications came from people currently serving as Garda Reserves. 

Meanwhile, over 100 members of An Garda Síochána were newly attested today (Thursday May 19). 

Sixteen of the 102 attested members were born outside the state in countries including Guatemala, Saudi Arabia, Poland, Lithuania, Croatia, Scotland, England, Angola, New Zealand and Northern Ireland. 

Today's attested members commenced their Garda training in September 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic and have undertaken a blend of on-line learning, on-site learning in the Garda College, and experiential learning in training Garda stations. 

The newly sworn Gardaí will now take on operational responsibilities. 
 
Speaking at the Graduation Ceremony in the Garda College Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said, "The training to become a Garda is demanding under any normal circumstances. But undertaking the programme during the public health crisis will have made it all the more challenging for this intake of 102 trainees.”

"Each one came forward to pursue a career in An Garda Síochána at a critical and uncertain time so from the very outset they have shown their ability and commitment to protecting the public.

"I admire their personal strength and dedication in seeing the programme through to today’s attestation.”

He added: "In An Garda Síochána, we know that being more reflective of the diverse and inclusive society we serve will enhance our ability to provide an effective police service for all people.

"We have one of the highest levels of female police officers in Europe, but we recognise that there is still work to do.

"We have to continue encouraging women and those from diverse backgrounds to join An Garda Síochána. Close to 40% of the new Gardaí passing out today are women. The 102 trainees represent 11 different nationalities including Saudi Arabia, Guatemala and Lithuania. 

Garda Ernesta Juozapavice who is originally from Lithuania with her children at todays passing out ceremony.#Garda100 pic.twitter.com/Qw5Yi08LaD

— Garda Info (@gardainfo) May 19, 2022

"During our recent recruitment campaign, we placed huge organisational effort on attracting candidates from a wide range of diverse backgrounds. 

"We learned this month that over 11,000 people have applied to become a member of An Garda Síochána.” 

"There are positive signs too in the fact that roughly 40% of applicants are women and there has been an increase in numbers applying across a range of ethnic backgrounds,” concluded Commissioner Harris. 

An Garda Síochána currently consists of 14,396 sworn members.