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A NEW ARMED unit of the gardaí is being added to the Dublin area.
The plans for the extra Garda Armed Support Unit, or ASU, comes in response to a series of murders related to gangland feuds and organised crime.
Gardaí’s role in gang feuds is to deploy emergency services to the area, help stem the violence and protect the communities most at risk.
Tánaiste and Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald said today that “actions of An Garda Síochána in fearlessly opposing vicious criminal elements is a true example of service and commitment to the communities which they serve.
There are not many of us who would willingly confront the callous individuals who orchestrate the activities of criminal gangs, but members of An Garda Síochána do so on a daily basis, and at great personal risk.
The Department of Justice has also introduced a raft of new measures to counter organised crime, including new laws to target the proceeds of crime, and extra resources for An Garda Síochána – including a €55 million increase in garda resources for 2016.
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at least they look the part! military gardai
We’ve had units like this years this is just an extra one specifically for gang stuff
Uniform makes them look like gimps.
Yeah Francis Whatever….
It’s not specifically for gang stuff; that’s what the GNDOCU & SCTF is for. This unit is armed support for all gardaí, in all armed situations, for the Dublin Metropolitan Region.
@Lukey: They look like an European Union police force… The E.U. talks more like a Political union then there was talk about an EU army, so how long before an EU police force?
Non lethal, what a joke pepper spray kills as do tasers, they look to me to be the start of a police force used to control crowds and nothing else, makes me wonder what the government might fear around the corner, a financial meltdown or collapse?
Never heard of pepper spray killing someone, any link? (Genuine question)
Man Dies After Getting Pepper Sprayed By Police
: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/11/man-dead-after-pepper-spray-police_n_7777714.html
Safer than shooting, isn’t it, Enda?
guns are useless unless the guards have the law& judges behind them.thugs need to fear going to court not just see it as a minor inconvenience or a day out
@Dean Anderson: I think some might fear a bullet hole rather than a judge?
Doesn’t matter the arsenal the Gardai get if the criminals aren’t afraid.
@Mick McGuinness: christy kinahan is worth upwards of 1 billion euro lol
True, but in fairness I don’t think they are trying to scare them into submission with this new unit.
Let’s have some clarity regarding these units, we’ve seen several of them appear only to quietly disappear again over the years.
How is this one to be funded? Where are their weapons, vehicles and personel coming from, is this an entirely new unit in name only or is it just a case of moving other gardai from armed response units into this one and calling it a new unit?
I’m reliably informed a unit such as this needs time for training, how is this to be arranged, if this unit has been recruited and trained fron the rank and file gardai, when did this decision take place as such a decision clearly took place some time ago?
What units have disappeared? Just because they’re not reported on, doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. This is a new unit; it’s members were interviewed, assessed, and sent on 13 weeks training before today’s launch. Like every other item of expenditure, it was paid for out of the garda budget.
Sure we are at nothing. I watched recently the Paul Williams documentary which showed footage of John Gilligan in the “Maximum Security” prison in Portlaoise. He was having a fantastic party with music and beverages with all of his buddies from Drimnagh and Limerick. Why would they fear prison? But take any of that away and you are breaching their human rights and you would have Daly and Wallace rushing to their assistance!
This is all for show, The Hitmen are long gone by the time the guards arrive.
The ports need more scanners and sniffer dogs , prevention is better than cure.
Fair play to those who applied for the dangerous jobs and I hope they get well paid but it’s not going to make any difference unless they are on a constant patrol.
Rapid response is to late.
We require gunfights between the good and the bad to justify Armed units and that should never happen.
55 million for this, and and she now has to find an additional 25 million for the Gardai pay increases. Therefore. what the big printh giveth, the small print taketh away. There’ll be plenty of cuts elsewhere to pay for it,.
Why do we need them? The crims are doing a great job of clearing the streets of themselves one by one.
Fair play to u that’s a great comment , Oh wait there were innocence people murdered as well that’s one of the reasons to protect innocent people lives to ..
Get Pat Hickey on the advisory board to give Mountjoy a makeover with a little Brazilian look and feel….it might make them think twice or maybe not.
All the weapons in the world wont get one conviction if the proper police work of securing evidence is incompetent.
Black glasses and high powered guns are only optics…
Good job that isn’t the case so.
Balls to it anyway, I missed that sale in Aldi for action man gear.
@Shane Murphy: Anne Summers might have the same gear your looking for ;)
I’m sure they’ll be deployed on our streets soon enough checking for tax and insurance…seems to be a smokescreen a proper intelligence service is needed
mean while the judges let the filth out with suspended 200 previous convictions the judges/goverment are the problem
With German Guns !!!! History repeats itself.
TV3 terribly excited about this on their Absurdly named the 5.30, this evening. On a more cynical note, anyone notice the glaring obvious increase in in garda activity around the villages, side roads etc, I’m not referring to the obligatory drink drive check points but the sneaky parking at the side of a road, the tucking into ditches nearing entrances to villages, etc, could it be that recent pay rise?? That has brought on this recent surge in activities, the irony being one such hard car, parked not more than a few hundred yards from a property whilst it was being burgled, won’t mention the village, but not far from mullingar.
That has been available for over 20 years. Its just some officer wanting promotion by pretending ot his bright new idea.
PR Stunt by the so called Party of Law and Order. FG Blue shirts treating the states blue-shirts with distain. FG think the wider public are cupid stunts and will see through this PR photo op.
Cops need to shoot first ask questions later .
Not doing a whole lot for civil society in the US is that approach. Place is a race war time bomb in many cities at least by the sounds and appearances of things.
Gina Carano would kick there asses.
Strange choice of name really, there was another organisation who used the same abbreviation but it had a very different meaning.
What unit do you work for? … “ASU !”… Bless you !
The 3 in that photo look relate and 2 especially look like brothers?
You reckon those black visors are a family trait or something?
@JJ O Riordan: Nah, Just the bottom of the faces…
Hmmmmm, guns are dangerous
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