With protests and riots increasing, are An Garda Síochanna trained adequately enough to handle them effectively and responsibly? Matthew McKeown reports.
“The most excruciating pain of my life.” This is how one activist at the recent Dublin Port Tunnel protest for Gaza described the experience of getting pepper sprayed at point blank range.
The deployment of this spray along with riot shields and batons by members of the Garda Public Order Unit at the scene of this protest drew criticism from organisations such as the Irish Network of Legal Observers (INLO) which published a report alleging potential human rights abuses. According to the INLO, gardaí were observed to use the spray at point blank range, disregarding the mandated minimum range of one meter.
In a statement on the incident, An Garda Síochanna said they attempted to deal with the protest in a ‘voluntary manner’ and only resorted to force when there was an attempt to break their cordon.
Despite this, in an era of increasingly frequent protests and riots, events like these pose a pressing question: are Gardaí really trained to handle them?
The Garda National Public Order Unit (POU), also known as the ‘riot squad,’ is a branch of the Gardaí that deals with public disorders, like riots and protests. As opposed to a standing force, the majority of units are composed of ordinary uniformed Gardaí with full ‘day duties’ who have been specifically trained to deal with large-scale disorders. This means that staffing availability depends on overtime (capped at 70 hours per month) and the goodwill of officers.
This weak deployment model, along with widespread resource deficits had posed challenges to the unit for years, so when violent riots erupted in Dublin in November 2023, the force was caught thin. After this, the POU underwent a sweeping expansion: the number of trained officers rose by 50% to 1500 and its fleet was supplemented by fifteen new specialist vehicles, including two water cannon trucks. As well as this, they acquired 3.2 million euro worth of body armour, shields and the more potent Mark 9 incapacitant spray.
These upgrades were put on display during the recent CityWest riot, with the POU operation drawing significant praise for its efficacy. That night, about 300 officers supported by canine and mounted units rapidly contained unrest at a migrant accommodation centre, dispersing a group of around 2,000 people.
However, the question lingers; does more strength mean better policing? In 2019, an internal investigation by the Gárda Inspectorate summarised that the biggest risk facing the organisation ‘was not from the potential for widespread public disorder [...] but rather arises from inconsistent governance and application of Garda policy.’
Following this, the Irish Policing Authority’s 2024 review found that of the 2019 recommendations 9 were only partially implemented and 5 remain unimplemented. The 2024 review notes that the Public Order Incident Command model, something which is designed to clarify leadership and limit the use of unnecessary force, remains inconsistently used.
Currently, Gardaí must undergo a six day training regime in the Gormanston Army camp to become members of the POU. However, the report found that access to this site was inconsistent, and that a central training facility with a ‘tactical town’ was needed to bring An Garda Síochána on par with its European counterparts. It was revealed that instructors are currently forced to make do with tape markings to simulate real streetscapes, in the absence of a specialised facility.
The Authority also claims that the training itself is outdated. Excluding a few recent module additions, the current framework has been in place for 24.
Additionally it was noted that officers are not undergoing consistent recertification, which includes taking a short refresher course. Despite the annual standards laid out in Garda policy, it was reported that some members have not been recertified for up to three years due to being granted extensions.
Today, public order policing sits on the frontline of societal divisions in Ireland. However, with an increasingly powerful force it is more important than ever to ensure that their strength is matched by restraint and that officers equipped with shields and batons are equally armed with judgment, accountability and public trust.
Only then can Irish policing meet the test of both riot and resistance in a democratic state.