102 new Gardaí graduating from Templemore today

Photo courtesy of An Garda Siochana

The Minister for Justice will attend her first passing out ceremony today in Templemore since taking up the role.

Minister Helen McEntee is visiting Tipperary today and says that she is privileged to be able to attend the graduation, as Covid had prevented her previously.

Speaking to Tipp FM she says there are currently just over 14,300 Gardaí and she hopes this year’s budget can make provisions for further recruitment.

She says while the force is growing there is always a need for more:

“We’ve 102 new recruits, they will be crucial in shaping the next 100 years. Where we are with Garda numbers we’ve about 14,300 plus, we’d like to have more.”

“As people will know Templemore was closed for many years and that has had an impact on our overall numbers. But in the last few years we’ve seen that number increase significantly and my intention certainly as Minister is to see that number increase.”