Offaly man among country’s newest Gardai

An Offaly man was among the 87 recruits who graduated from the Garda Training College in Templemore last week.

Stephen O'Meara, from the Faithful County, was among the group who became sworn members of An Garda Síochána at a ceremony attended by Justice Minister Helen McEntee on Friday.

A statement issued by the Garda Press Office said 62 of the 87 new Gardai were being stationed in the Dublin area. Mr O'Meara was among the 62, as he is taking up a post at Henry Street.

None of the graduates on Friday are being stationed in Offaly or Westmeath.

The new members included 69 men and 18 women, and brought the total number of sworn Gardai to 13,949.

Seven of the new recruits were born outside the State - in Northern Ireland, England, Lithuania, America and Spain.

"The new Gardaí commenced their Garda training in November 2022, and have undertaken a blend of on-line learning, on-site learning in the Garda College, and experiential learning in training Garda stations," the Garda statement said.

"The allocation of Probationer Gardaí is initially to training Garda stations and also allows for consequential inter-divisional transfers of other members."

The Garda Press Office said on Friday that 289 Garda recruits were undergoing training in Templemore, while a new intake of 175 recruits was due to enter the training college earlier today (Monday).