GARDA SERGEANTS and inspectors are calling on Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy to abandon plans that would see uniformed gardaí carry firearms in their Garda vehicles for the first time.
The annual conference of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) will hear calls for the controversial arming proposal to be discontinued. Delegates at the conference in Trim, Co Meath, are expected to pass a motion instructing the national executive to lobby Garda management formally to drop the plan.
Under current proposals, uniformed gardaí are to be given firearms. They will not carry them on their person but will keep them in regional support unit vehicles.
Whenever an incident arises necessitating an armed response, it is envisaged the members would change out of their uniforms into plain clothes, arm themselves and respond to the situation as appropriate. The proposal follows a recommendation from the Garda Inspectorate, which advises on the development of the Garda force, that "second-tier" armed units should 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 into the shooting dead by gardaí in Abbeylara of John Carthy. However, members of AGSI now want assurances from the Garda Commissioner that uniformed gardaí will not, under any circumstances, be required to carry firearms. They also want Mr Murphy to reverse proposals in the Garda plan for the year regarding firearms being kept at the ready in regional support vehicles.
Members of the force are anxious that the Garda's unarmed status not be changed by stealth. They want plain-clothes gardaí to continue carrying firearms, as is normal, but to make sure the unarmed status of uniformed officers is fully maintained.
The expected debate at conference is the second time in as many years that the armed status of the force has been under focus.
Last year the Garda Inspectorate proposed that members on the beat carry mace or pepper sprays to help in dealing with increased levels of violence on the streets.
However, the then Garda commissioner Noel Conroy rejected the proposal on the basis that arming the force might encourage problematic members of the public to be more aggressive with gardaí they encountered.
Delegates at the AGSI's three- day conference will also debate a number of other issues. One motion on the agenda sees some delegates calling on the Garda Ombudsman Commission to investigate complaints against members of the force that are "worthy of investigation".
Currently the commission is obliged to, at least in part, investigate all complaints. AGSI also wants members against whom complaints are made to be kept fully informed on the progress of an investigation.
There will also be calls for Garda stations to have access to wireless broadband.
Delegates will also discuss the lack of availability of bullet-proof clothing for Garda motorcyclists, following the shooting of one such garda during a botched armed raid last year.
AGSI president Paschal Feeney will officially open the conference tonight with his address to delegates.
Minister of State for Justice Seán Power will respond on behalf of the Government. Mr Power is taking the place of Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan, who is in Boston for the St Patrick's Day celebrations.
