Thurles MD held it’s January meeting at the Garda College in Templemore to mark the Centenary of the foundation of the Garda in 2022.
The councillors were given an overview of operations at the College which boasts 500 beds and a catering capacity for 2000 meals per day. The college has approximately 400 staff and has been in operation since 1964. The college provides initial training for new recruits and ongoing Professional Development for members of An Garda Siochana. The College has links with 8 Universities as it provides accredited training to members of the force.
In recent years recruitment has been challenging for the force after a period of no intake due to the financial crash and limited interest in the career as other opportunities seemed more appealing. The most recent “passing out” or graduation ceremony on January 16th saw a group of 24 Garda complete basic training. There are 89 recruits currently undergoing training.
The College has also been involved in a number of controversies including the change to a public tendering process leading to a loss of contracts for local suppliers, a financial controversy following a disclosure by a whistle-blower leading to a still ongoing investigation (2017) by the Garda Ombudsman and more recently the refusal to allow access to the swimming College pool for community groups as had been the norm pre pandemic.
To mark the occasion, Cllr Noel Coonan, Templemore, Chair of the Joint Policing Committee of County Tipperary made a presentation to Chief Superintendent Patrick Murray. Also pictured are Superintendent Brian Conway and Superintendent Ciara Lee (formerly Tipperary town GS)
Each of the nine Thurles MD councillors were presented with specially engraved medal to mark the occasion as were three members of the media attending the meeting.
