149 new Gardaí were attested as sworn members of An Garda Síochána at a ceremony at the Garda College in Templemore earlier today. 113 are men and 36 are women. 19 of the new Gardaí were born outside the state in countries such as France, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and the UK.
The new Gardaí are mostly being assigned to Dublin or the Eastern Garda Region with 126 of the 149 assigned to these two regions. The Southern region which includes county Tipperary is allocated 13 of the new Garda with the final 10 going to stations in the northwest region.
The current strength of An Garda Siochána is 14,295 supported by 3,677 staff and 318 Garda Reserves
A further 285 Garda recruits are currently undergoing the training programme at the Garda College with a new group of 200 due to start on Monday. The Government has increased the training allowance and increased the age limit for applicants to encourage more recruits to the Garda Training College in Templemore.
