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PHILIP K DICK’S seminal 1968 science-fiction classic, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, imagines a world where artificial intelligence thinks for itself, is capable of doing the same things that humans do, and often do it better.
It formed the basis of the 1982 film Blade Runner, where Harrison Ford’s character is a man who has the job of seeking out dangerous robots to decommission – kill – them.
The latest exhibition in Science Gallery Dublin imagines a world where artificial intelligence has taken over and looks at where we’ll fit in when it happens.
Humans Need Not Apply looks at aspects that range from the beneficial and the humorous to the dystopian.
TheJournal.ie got a sneak peak at some of the exhibits before the gallery opened to the public and here are some of the highlights from this latest take from the Science Gallery at Trinity College.
Lady Chatterley’s Tinderbot
DH Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover was criticised for its “obscenity” upon its first publication in the 1920s.
The book contains explicit sexual references but, almost 100 years later in 2017, we are bombarded with sexual imagery in our culture so this exhibition sought to use AI to perform a contrast between then and now.
Created by artist Libby Heaney, a machine was given the text of Lady Chatterley’s Lover and programmed to go on the dating app Tinder and talk to other people using only the text from the book.
Can racy, 1920s prose navigate the dating world of today?
The results are unexpected, baffling and hilarious.
The tickle machine
This is exactly what it sounds like.
Here, a visitor can lie down while an automated soft brush moves around your body.
The brush learns as it goes, adapts by trial and error to map the shape of your body and works away.
AI adapting to your body and helping you relax?
It’s not so far away.
When robots take over
Can robots take over from humans?
This exhibit has a take on what it’ll look like when it happens.
Robot propaganda will tell us why everything is now so great, human resistance will print pamphlets to tell us we need to rise up and overthrow our AI overlords, and films such as the Terminator and the Matrix will be banned for spreading anti-robot rhetoric.
Although it appears unlikely to happen, this exhibit questions what will happen to us the more automated our society becomes and how much more we rely on artificial intelligence in the future.
The poetry camera
This is an old-style camera, with a difference.
It can look at someone, take a picture of them and create a poem just for that person.
Hacker and artist, Ross Goodwin, told TheJournal.ie that the camera generates poems based on whatever it captures and had limitless combinations that it can create.
This is the one the camera created for us when we visited the exhibition.
Pixar’s lamp (with a difference)
Most people will recognise the lamp that hops across the screen at the beginning of each Pixar movie.
This lamp bears a striking resemblance to that and has a mind of its own.
Similar to a dog, the lamp will react to whatever is going on in its surroundings.
If people are angry and shouting in the vicinity of the lamp, it will cower and shrink in size.
If there’s a jovial atmosphere, or if you’re telling the lamp how great it is, it will stick its neck out proudly.
This exhibit is designed to ask of us what exactly we can give empathy towards.
Does that extend beyond other people and living things?
Can we feel empathy for something that reacts like a living thing, even if it’s just a machine?
Profound questions, indeed.
The end of art
Is this a Rembrandt painting?
If you were to ask if Rembrandt painted this specific canvas, then the answer is no.
Artificial intelligence made this painting, but it did by looking at all of Rembrandt’s paintings, finding common threads – men in hats, stances, nose shape, facial hair – and creating a painting that used elements from everything the artist had done.
The exhibition would argue that, in that sense, it is a Rembrandt painting.
But it’s also definitely not.
Either way, machines replicating human art is also not such a far-away idea.
The mindfulness machine
Mindfulness is all about taking care of yourself and your mental health in particular.
This is a robot that practices mindfulness.
This is a robot that likes to colour in.
It makes its decisions on what patterns to draw and what colours to use based on the mood of the room, how many people are watching, the weather outside and background noise.
TheJournal.ie’s tour guide said that, before the exhibition opened, all of the exhibits were covered by a dark sheet so no one could see them. During that time, the robot chose to doodle exclusively in black pencil.
Commenting on the new exhibition as a whole, Science Gallery director Lynn Scarff said: “Humans Need Not Apply sets out to engage our visitors in genuine conversations that probe the multiple opportunities that these technologies present.
More critically, the exhibition aims to lend urgency to public discourse about what kind of changes we need to consider to our current infrastructure, from education and health to transport and the economy, to ensure that we all benefit from these opportunities.
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In the rank and file guards yes, in their management no
so you trust the gaurd on the street dont make me laugh its a boys club .money going missing from stations .tapes.penatly points .setting up ppl for murder and to top it off corrib .yes them superintendents are very busy
Well said Gizmo. It’s the ordinary Garda I feel sorry. It’s bad enough they are working with falling numbers, depleted resources, poor equipment, completely incompetent management but having to deal with the fallout from these whistleblowers. It’s no surprise so many are taking 3 years out, interesting to see how many return. I would guess the figures will be low. A thankless job.
They’re a bunch of cowards!
Yes Miss Filed do not allow the guards to stop and search, I’m sure the gougers will bring their drugs and weapons into their local Garda stations!
I guess maybe it is Gardai red-thumbing me. Do you really believe there are not some bad eggs among your colleagues? Do you believe that the Gardai should in all cases treat citizens with the utmost respect? I have experience as a mother of the frequent stop and search of lovely lads just walking down the streets – what do you say about that and its effect on community relations? I would like for the Gardai and the community to be acting together to help solve crime and the causes of crime. Would you agree?
I have experienced a heavy-handed approach by a Garda for an incredibly petty incident – he was cold and sinister in his approach and on a huge power trip – he said to my son, who was about 12 and had been shining a pointer light in our front garden, that he could arrest him and put him in a cell for the night. At no point were we anything but apologetic or polite to this Garda. I thought it was horrific and traumatic for us all. We were rightly put in our place and left in no doubt as to his power and what he could do to us, when he could have been more friendly and warned us that it was dangerous thing near a road and we could all have learned from it. However all we learned was how brutal some members of the Gardai can be to the average citizen.
Everybody I know has a story like this to tell – all respectable law-abiding citizens. Something is wrong with that.
Like this is what’s wrong with the world. Not the guards pro actively stopping and searching or coming across as arrogant to some do gooder who probably can’t help sticking her beak in (I bet you’re the very person who gets involved when a Garda is moving on a beggar or such!).
When I was a young lad I’d walk the other way if I saw a Garda, I’d go out of my way to avoid him. Nowadays young lads are marching up to them, making smart comments, undermining them, but hey, that’s ok once the Garda made him look bad in front of his friends.
This country is a joke for many reasons and people like you are one.
Gizmo, if you had teenage sons you would be aware that lads are frequently stopped for not reason except they are walking down the street. This creates bad relations and is not supposed to happen unless there is an actual suspicion that the people have committed a crime. If you do want every citizen to be subject to stop and search for no reason, then you could lobby to change the law so that Gardai are allowed to do that. However, at this point in time they are not supposed to stop and search without suspicion that the person has been involved in a crime.
I respect most Gardai, but I think that high standards of respect for citizens in our police force is very important. What do you think of the success of the Met Office in London’s approach to cutting down stop and search? I think it could increase trust in communities and good relations between youth and the Gardai, which can only be a good thing.
https://www.london.gov.uk/mayor-assembly/london-assembly/publications/safety-policing/stop-and-search-an-investigation-into-the-mets-new-approach-to
+1
Miss field. Your just ignorant in so many ways.
Miss filed I do have a teenage son, granted I only found out about him last year and he lives in Kerry, that’s beside the point. Your views are misguided, they really are, can’t imagine guards stopping and searching young fellas unless they’ve reasonable cause. Honestly if we had the likes of you creating new legislation then the country would be a lot worse off than it already is!
Gizmo I am glad that you have discovered you have a teenage son and I wish you the best of luck with the relationship. Look, I am not against the Gardai, but there is absolutely no doubt that young lads are stopped and searched for no reason. I am trying to point out that it is in the end counter-productive because when any citizen feels treated unfairly they come to mistrust and dislike the Gardai, and that is not a good outcome. We need to have the Gardai and communities working as one and a high level of trust in all communities for the best results all round.
And the London met are on top of knife and gun crime maybe the gardai should stop searching nd let knife and gun crime spiral out of control!! Cop yourself on
So Gizmo, your answer is yes and no?
To an extent I guess!! Do you want me to explain it to you?
@ Miss Filed
That’s ‘My Johnny’ syndrome at its finest right there!! Your son was playing in your front Garden with a laser pointer and the big bad Garda came & abused both him & you yeah!?! Would you entertain the possibility that he was pointing it at passing traffic or overhead aircraft!?! And that the Garda had to come down & deal with this bullshit nuisance call because several people had rang the Garda barracks about your son!?!
I don’t know how you can call them cowards Michelle. They are been assaulted,shot at and dealing with the most dangerous criminals in this country on a daily basis. At any given time there are hundreds of guardai under threat and they still do their jobs. They are some of the bravest people serving in the public service
So none of the rank and file Gardai wiped penalty points then?
Clap
During his appearance in front of the PAC, Martin Callinan tried to discredit the claims made by Maurice McCabe and John Wilson by stating that if these abuses were as widespread as they claim then why were they the only two making these accusations?
Well, we now know that they were correct in what they claimed so why were so few within the force willing to come out and speak about it? Were these the only two men in a force of thousands that knew what was going on? It seems integrity is short supply within An Garda Síochána.
To borrow a phrase from Mick Wallace, the fish rots from the head and that head has been rotting for decades. I can’t have confidence in a force that consistently places loyalty and secrecy above transparency and the truth.
I imagine if the guards got involved your perfectly angelic son did more than shine a laser pointer on the ground in the front garden. I won’t comment on the parental responsibility of letting a minor have a laser pointer which are quite dangerous in certain circumstances but letting them use it in a public place is certainly stupid and would warrant being told off by a guard.
Now while I’m sure he may have been slightly heavy handed and a bit of an arrogant whatnot (as I’ve found a lot of guards to be) he obviously wanted to scare some sense into you for allowing your child to do something stupid.
I’ve met far more guards who are arrogant,on power trips and also more worryingly mis informed on some of the laws they are supposed to be upholding, than I have intelligent, well mannered, and reasonable guards. As for the senior management in Garda hq, they need to start from the top and get rid of them all. Along with a proper complaints board that can investigate every single menber of the force regardless of rank
The management of today is the rank and file of yesterday.
They don’t have the power to wipe points. Superintendent and above.
7000 people respond, that’s a decent size poll…….
It’s the rank and file who raise their batons at peaceful protesters and best them into submission. How can you accept that.
But; they did!! What Rock have you been living under.
Beat,!!!! Ffn autocorrect!
Move to Spain or Poland and you’ll know about heavy handed police!!! A little bit of pepper spray and you’re whining… Soft chap, go back to s%cking on your auld ones t%t!!!!!
Are you as blind as you are dumb, Not one mention of pepper spray and you bring it in to make some kind of limp point about another country. From where your head is you can obviously see a lot of shite, so maybe it’s you who needs to lift your head from somewhere.
Soft chap…. I can see why you have a problem with the baton…. It should have been used on you that little bit more!!!! What a whinge bag you are…..
Based on that logic then we the Irish public are all thieves, murderers, rapists, etc etc because I read about things like that happening in Ireland every day.
How?
“my little Johnny did nothing wrong” with the limited resources the police force in this country has do you honestly think they would waste time hassling teenagers for shits and giggles??? Cop on and raise a real point, if your son is being hassled its for a reason
Read any paper for the past three months, they can’t
I didn’t notice the option in the poll to vote both yes and no.
I’d like to see you try and go out every morning with a risk of getting killed just to protect everyone else’s safety.
Wouldn’t you love to put ms field or her like in a uniform and send her to tallaght, coolock or the likes of them places. I’d give her one hour tops lol.
Guards by and large do a great thankless Job. Is it at least two a day assaulted? Then of course criminal attacks guard then gets a clout from the guard and it’s ombudsman complaint. I blame the courts and the government. We do not instill fear. Open spike island. Bring in hard labour and if a prisoner has dislike for work (as they tend to when not in jail) then 23 hours a day lockdown. Make prisons generate a profit.
Or are we gone too doo gooder
How did you manage to input two answers to the poll?
I have similar story where my 15 year old son was locked in ax police can for 45mins and intermittently shouted at with profanities in the face and locked in again.
Unbeknownst to them I was on the other end of the phone.
When i complained, as my son was not kept our charged or warned or anything, as he had just been walking down the main street with his friend who lives up the road there; and …the Gardai said” he shouldn’t have had his phone”???????
They do it to my son all the time and his friends, and none of them have ever done anything wrong.
I have loads of stories…..
No charge or warnings or anything… Just bullying….
It is not good for the Gardai or the Kids.
We don’t live in Spain Poland, tired of people comparing our situation to the lowest common dominator.
This is Ireland, my country and I’d rather have it run according to our values and not countries that have a history in lacking them.
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahah, what a joke,
Dealing with the fallout of whistleblowers ? The problem is that there is too much for the whistle to be blown about. The decent cops either get squeezed out before their 20 years, or they just keep their heads down and sit it out. My wife got squeezed out because she wouldn’t be corrupted. The stories she told made my skin crawl, and usually the judges took their word as “gospel”. Gards planting evidence, lying in court, stealing from the evidence room, and many other abuses.
I waved at a Garda in his car yesterday, he waved back – is that confidence?
He was probably signalling for you to stop!
I was walking actually, and he drove on…
There’s speed limits on footpaths Daniel
You guys are just bitching.
Crime wave perhaps?
The gardai are bringing a revolt against themselves by their misadventures, their criminal acts their cover ups their ruthless disregard for law order truth and their oath . The people are very aware that guardians of the peace work to an agenda politically and are in the pockets of the rich. The situation is so bad as to warrant the dismissal of the entire brass at the top and Noirin is well aware of what went on and what is still the agenda of keep the common people down by any means . this will end ugly
Maybe he thought you were looking for help Daniel?
did you mean tripping?
The last place that you should leave property that you find, is a Garda station. Cash and property theft if rife, as well as abuse of power.
It would be a very big yes to the men and women on the streets ..
As a trucker I see everyday what they have to deal with ..
Not a Eazy job… Fair play to them all
Sounds like you’re asleep at the wheel Marthy!
Of course i have confedence in the Garda, thankless job! Its wrong to tar them all with the same brush. I have no confidence in government!
most of the ordinary Garda are good people it’s the one’s at the top with all the power that are corrupt…
Like any walk of life it depends on who you meet. Some guards are complete ignorant pigs on a power buzz. Others are pleasant to deal with and resist the urge to live on a high horse. The power comes with the badge, not the person. A lot of guards out there don’t seem to know that. In my experience the reserve guys are the worst because they’re not doing it for a living, they’re doing it just to wear the cap and uniform so they can feel important.
Daniel, like em hate em its all the same, they come to you aid even if you hate them. Far more then you would do for them based on your comment.
i dont hate anyone the whole system from top to bottom is failing us their is no one for the gaurds or government to answer to they bugged the system for a start this has been proven everyone knows ireland is a corrupt country since FF were in power and FG ?
What bugging was this Daniel!?! Do you mean the main Divisional HQ Stations with 999 Emergency Phones in them!?! This would be the same case that’s currently under inquiry and where as of yet it’s findings are awaited, yeah!?
Ombudsman office and prisoner – solicitors phone calls journalists phones tapped already proven by expert’s mark whats your point plz dont be so naive
The Garda Ombudsman’s office was never bugged. Not by the Gardai anyway! It was a storm in a tea-cup that was atrociously handled by the Dept of Justice & Martin Calinan, but there was no bugging! And what prisoner/solicitor phone calls were recorded!?
How do you know there was no surveillance of GSOC? Do you know something we don’t? There’s an independent report stating there was, then there’s a report the government got done by a company that carries out a lot of work for the government that simply read the original report and said “ah sure it’s nothing all that can be explained” and then left it there. So in my view there are still a huge amount of questions to be asked, and in light of recent revelations about the corrupt nature of senior gardai I wouldn’t rule out the possibility it was put in place by a small unit of gardai
So in as much as I can’t say there wasn’t surveillance carried out you can’t say there was! Let’s just agree neither of us know for certain either which which way and leave it at that! In the absence of concrete facts it’s not right so speculate!
No of course I can’t say that there definitely was surveillance, but the original report needs to be investigated more. In the current climate I would be more suspicious of the fact that there was surveillance going on.
Thats lies mark again the relationship between the obudsman’s office and gardai is frosty this is all a smoke screen and cover ups to paper over the cracks of the dodgy dealings of the protectors of the state whats needed is a place people can inquire about these matters without “mossad ” sorry the garda interference .
Absolutely not, They are happy to pervert the course of justice to secure a desired conviction, the morale despite the salaries, allowances & pensions is pathetic & not the brightest bulbs in the floodlights, ask the folk in Donegal & Cork.
Yes Rodger 5, I agree. It’s not all the upper echelon that have been bold…plenty of the rank and file abuse their position daily, in small ways, which undermines and erodes the confidence of the ordinary man in the force. They really do feel they are a step above the rest, regardless of rank. It’s the old way of thinking, the doctor, guard, priest was to be revered and feared, never questioned, and certainly never crossed!!
A lot of em reading the journal going by the red thumbs.
Absolutely Rodger 5. It’s fkn hilarious on here when u say anything neg re the Gardai. So busy and SO touchy!! Hilarious!
Don’t know. Where’s the option?
The men and women on the street or the overall organisation?
There will always a (small) few rank and file in any Police force who bend or break rules.
What is important is to have good oversight to keep it from becoming a big problem.
I have no confidence in the oversight – GSOC and dept of justice in fulfilling that role.
Do you have home monitoring or just a standard alarm?
If it’s a standard alarm you must be aware that alarms are deterrents, they alert neighbours and if they notice suspicious activity the Gardai are informed.
If the Gardai had to respond to every false alarm in the country they would probably have to triple their resources!
No I’m not a Guard
James, the alarm is a monitored one. If it goes off then the guards are automatically contacted. I take your point, but why would I pay for a monitored one if the guards won’t come out and check the house when it does go off?
Hi Niamh, the response time is also gauged by the number of areas that go off on the property. Single area activations and such the Garda arnt normally even informed. So a if a lot of areas go off the Garda generally respond quickly enough. Not sure what your situation was at the time but its based on the severity of the alarm activation.
Richard, as said my alarm is monitored. It was the front door one which was activated. With my alarm, the guards are contacted regardless of how many are activated. I could understand if there was a history of false alarms at my house, and they took a guess it was another one but that is not the case. I have never had a false alarm since it has been installed. My neighbour two doors down had been broken into while she was in the house. The same people stole from the house next door to me on the same day they broke into the other house. So sorry if I seem a little concerned. It was was the reason I got the alarm installed in the first place, to feel safe. After this experience I can say I don’t really feel the same about having one.
Hi, its not really as simple as a guess, comes down to the resources available at the time your location etc.. In a perfect world they could respond immediately to every alarm, but when one area and only one goes off its normally a false alarm caused by a fault or something as simple as banging on the door to hard. So Garda and monitoring companies have to make an educated guess. Even if you were paying a private company i doubt the response time would have been much better… I have had the displeasure of briefly working in a monitoring station and understand your frustration its just the way it is.. Id be more inclined to ask a trustworthy neighbour that lives close by to be a keyholder for you and update your monitoring accordingly. At least this way you would have some more reassurance and backup.
Wouldn’t a better question be “Are you a member of the public who has confidence in An Garda Síochána?’
Is that not what the question implies Paul?
I’m just implying that there are a lot of Gardaí who read the journal, jason. Their vote may skew the results.
Seems to be but they are members of the public too!
Touché…
It would, but; the journal doesn’t have a clue and probably cares less.
All institutions are imperfect. Institutions which are insufficiently accountable become more imperfect and misfeasance arises.
An Garda Siochana is unaccountable, we have seen too many scandals which show this to be the case.
Although Shatter rejected this, we really do need an independent Garda Authority. Unless or until that happens I have no and I will have no trust and confidence in An Garda Siochana.
90% of gardai are gangsters 90% of FF/FG/Lab are too ? all the same ?
100% of your statistics are wrong
Daniel there’s 13159 Gardai in the country. Judging by your comment u know 11843 of them. Ur sum man for one man
That’ll shut Daniel up.
truth hurts !
People can use statistics to prove anything they want 43% of people know that….
In answer to the question I have faith in the guard on the street not the higher ranks
just ask the mcbreartys or the person whos money was stolen from the garda station or all the garda mates who got off with traffic offences at the cost of the tax payer
Awh it’s easy to get the gougers fired up, I’m not your mother is!
i couldnt agree with you more !
i know 11843 of them are rotten to the core haha
I’d say you’re a great dad!
As an aside you should make a note of the spelling of “you’re” since you’re unable to use it correctly.
no lad by name and no lad by nature lol
You see, right up until that you might have had an arguable point…….I guess prejudice comes in many forms.
Shit stirring gobsh%te!!!
when something grunts most of the time its a pig
Or else in Daniel doing the misses
or me doing your mother again on a fours …c eye c u son Ba Ha
The incredible thing is that most useless hacks who write for any of the rags in this country would have piss all to write about but for bent gardai passing them info in breach of the data protection act.
I don’t think anyone joins the gardai for the reason of abusing their power. Much like no solider trains to kill his own side. We seem to have reached a level where all the sins of the past will now be exposed but like bank bailouts its not the first time. Reform was promised but no reform took place. While the buck stops with a minister any minister who action are forgiven by a Dail vote the system is open to abuse. Not embarrassing the minister gets you promoted not your ability as a member of the gardai. An Independent Garda Authority just like an independent judiciary is impossible while politician need to control both. If the gardai were allowed to do their jobs we would have fewer drunk politicians driving home from the Dail. They could object to becoming a revenue generating tool for the state instead of investigating crimes. Remember it will be the same force that will forced to use tear gas to defend these politicians if their plans fails.
Until transparency and accountability are restored corruption and waste will remain rife not just among senior Gardai, but across the public sector. This administration has shown no interest in promoting transparency or tackling corruption. In fact the complete opposite.
“So in summary:
1. Try to get around upfront FOI fees by asking for more than one item in each request. Effectively outlawed.
2. Try to ask for databases as a method of getting more data from one request. Effectively outlawed.
3. Try to ask for email data using Outlook Exchange queries. Effectively outlawed.
4. Try to get more information using digital methods. Give more discretion to FOI officers to charge more.
5. Try to appeal unjustified decisions to the Information Commissioner. Multiplication of fees due to affects of 1).
6. Try to be an engaged citizen, interested in transparency. Do something. Legislated against.
7. Try to obtain information efficiently, be reasonable. Get horrendous search and retrieval estimates.
The media’s ability to scrutinise things like State spending and the rights to freedom of expression of the people of Ireland are being legislated against, and secrecy is prevailing.
Minister Howlin and others will say we’re being alarmist. But they would say that wouldn’t they?
They’re the ones legislating against the tactics we’ve been using.
Welcome to Ireland in 2014.”
http://thestory.ie/2014/04/01/was-this-website-targeted-by-the-state/
Like in every civil service job you have the good and the bad(lazy) a culture created mainly by Fianna Fáil and continued by coalition gov. No pride in our country give nothing back just take the whole time.I know good people who retired early because of hassle from colleagues. I trust the rank and file more than the arse lickers of top brass.
I’m cool with the shicalony but I’m nora rat!
Where you have people, you have flaws. An unfortunate fact. I don’t believe for a second that all Gardai are bad or corrupt and in general I have great faith in them. Look at all the scandals, especially recent ones and ask yourselves at what level did this happen? Then look at the treatment of those who tried to expose it. And some of you wonder why silence sometimes prevails? Walk in those shoes for a few miles(years), then come back and comment my friends. We all have bad experiences but accountability must go up as well as down the line.
Conor are you a Garda? There are many fine Gardai who do a difficult job, but I am really worried by the attitude and actions of the few who seem to be on power trips and do not treat citizens with respect – especially those from certain backgrounds. What do you think about the state of relations between the Gardai and youth in certain housing estates? If you think it is not good, what do you think could be done about it?
Miss Filed, i’ld rather not say what I do for a living…that kind of detail tends to get hijacked by trolls. But to answer your other questions, relations between Gardai and many sections if society are poor…very poor. Sometimes as a result of what appears to be institutionalized bias, sometimes personal bias, sometimes it’s because they are diametrically opposed to each other. And I point the finger at everyone in saying that. But consider this, if there aren’t enough Gardai in some areas to crew a patrol car then what’s the likelihood of there being resources to in some meaningful way engage with anybody. I have argued for years that the day Gardai vanished from beat patrol, they lost touch with the society they serve. With the passage of time it’s easy to blame the individual Gardai and perhaps in many cases that’s justified. However, without effective leadership and well managed resources, are any of us that surprised at the current situation? How to improve? Well for a start listen to those charged with doing that job. Target the issue in need of attention, don’t ignore it. Select people for the task with qualifications or aptitude for it, not someone’s buddy. And accountability…have it in every direction. Make every decision maker not only have to stand over their decisions, but account for them. Those in charge need to lead, not watch and perhaps take themselves back to the “factory floor”.
Excellent comment Conor
A good backhander would quickly sort that out!!!! It was done in my day & resolved problems a lot quicker than today’s way of acceptable behaviour!!!! Youth have no respect toward any elders or authority anymore….
mabey you were no hit hard enuff ?
Examples please? What housing estates?
like there disbanded cousins up north the r.u.c,,CORRUPT from the top right down..DISBAND NOW!
Most ordinary level Garda are ok.
There’ll always be the odd jumped up thug though, like the one who tried his best to break my elbow one evening on Grafton street one evening.
What a pig he was!!
And what would you suggest we do then Brian
what can we do! we live in a corrupt so called free state..with the FG/FF monopoly that as destroyed this country i dearly love ,until we the people rid the FG/FF monopoly in the dail eireann, this country will keep stinking of corruption and cronyism,and our state forces will carry on as normal….CORRUPT FROM THE TOP DOWN
Ship you off to America… Idiot!!! If you want to forget your heritage that much off with ya…. Fool!!
mr muscle john Gallagher smoking gun of the journal.ie Ba Ha
Ive ran into some awful “stand for search” types, but also some friendly down to earth types. I guess, for me anyway, it varies from guard to guard. Though I’ve never had to deal with them bar the odd search. They’ve never found my crotch nodge.
I like to think that most of the police are there to help you, and will try to act accordingly, but after recent events I’m not so sure. My purse was stolen in town the day before Patrick’s Day, and I almost immediately reported it at the police station. The policeman who saw me was polite but brisk, and just filled out a form and said he’d send an incident report to my house. Two weeks later and there was still no sign of any report, so I rang them only to find the report had never been filed, and there was no record of me being on the system. I know it’s only a tiny incident, compared to other things that are going on at the moment, and that mistakes happen, but I still feel a bit let-down, as I’d have liked some acknowledgement, and not to feel I was being ignored. The other Guards I spoke to on the phone all seemed polite and helpful, and are currently investigating into who it was who took my details and why it wasn’t on the system. But still, it’d make you wonder…
They couldn’t be bothered as zero chance of them been caught.
To be honest over the last 15 years they have just become another arm of the Revenue.. raising stealth taxes of motorists by hiding in ditches at the side of the road… They don’t really even pretend to do serious police work any more unless it’s a headline grabber case.. Almost zero foot patrols in suburban areas. I honestly can’t remember the last time I saw one initiating a normal conversation with a random person, so zero community involvement. They have completely given up on burglary, theft, criminal damage etc and will as good as tell you that when you call.
Jesus Jay, what century are you living in!? You want foot patrols do you so you can have a chat with the friendly beat copper!? What good is that when there’s a robbery 4 or 5 mile down the road!?! The Gardai are under resourced & under staffed and there’s not nearly enough crime patrols to meet demand!! Pull your head out of your arse fella!!
Mark you my friend are a clown ever heard of proactive policing ?
Front line guards do a great job. I don’t know how they manage to remain so motivated with such corruption in the top brass.
We had a disturbance in our yard a few yrs back,rang Cops,still waiting on them to respond to that call…. Next time it happened my husband told them he had the gun out and was going to blow the head off them,they were in the yard within 2mins….
Lots of Shinnerbots on service today, then again they support the cold blood murder of Gardai
I think that they are a disgrace ,rank and file , god save us all if they were issued hand guns . Bent as a tuppeny piece
Always has been and always will be an organisation rotten to the core..
The media are too close and indebted to the Garda and visa versa. The keep talking about all the good work our Garda do. I do not know anybody who thinks that. They walk by people openly committing crimes every day. Old folks are terrified in their homes. Illegal Parking in tolerated, drug dealing, cyclists on footpaths , anti social behaviour, crime prevention is a joke and detectives must be the most ineffective in any police force. The ethos in templemore must be seriously questioned. It’s like the Hitler Youth. I have great respect for the local community Gardai who really are like social workers. The Gardai have not changed over the years – 40 years ago a batten charge in a small town by drunk Gardai left on man with a broken arm another man deaf in one ear and an old lady dragged across a street. All were walking home from the cinema. Nothing was done about it. One of the local Gardai was a pest with young women in the town and nothing was ever done about that either. Power corrupts and rape by Gardai is impossible to get a conviction. Why do our journalists not research the amount of rape and sexual crimes committed by people in power like politicians, councillors and Gardai? The system stinks.
Basically you spout a lot of crap. Did you ever stop to think its no rape conviction cos it actually never happened and heaven forbid that a guard is NEVER the subject of a false complaint.
Wake up and come into the real world :)
Eye you clown your the one who needs to wake up to reality
I would have to say yes i trust the guards…….99% of them do a great job… theres always that 1% that are assh##es …theres ass##les in every job right ?…
Considering that they didn’t come to my home after I rang 999, they didn’t come another time when someone was trying to kick my door in, and a couple other times I was ignored by them, no, no I do not have confidence in them, but that has nothing to do with what is going on now.
The Journal should limit a Comment/Rant to a certain amount of letters. Who reads all these long winded essays that are posted.
I think it’s twitter you are looking for.
It has always been the case that there is one law for the average citizen and another for the members of our police service, I trust in that if not in the gardai as a hole.
What happened to Ian Bailey was an utter disgrace. There is far too much proximity between certain journalists in the Irish media and members of an Garda Siochana. No one can defend secret taping and Garda leaks to the media.
The Garda is a big force and we cant say they are all bad and untrustworthy.
When they are caught doing anything wrong, it is straight into cover-up mode
In the long run this does more damage, when they find bad apples they should get rid of them
It is a problem that a lot of people have taken to filming the police all over the world and the police do not like it
The trust when lost can be almost impossible to get back
The culture within the garda is rotten and Callinan said it best only 2 out of 13000 were willing to do the right thing. And now they are proving it again with there comments and red thumb brigade on here . Absolutely no accountability in the public sector has people thinking well I didn’t get punished so I did no wrong.
Ask again when the details of the Ian Bailey case come out and expect an even higher number of “No” votes.
Like all walks of life some good some bad, same in all jobs.
Confidence in the Garda? Because of previous experiences with them the answer is definitely a no.
The picture on the front of todays Irish Times shows Garda graduates from Templemore holding up the Holy Bible, the symbol of a Christian police force maybe. However wouldn’t it have been more appropriate instead for them to be holding a Garda manual of police conduct, ie…..’Troubleshooting for Dummies’
Chris. Go back to looking at the pictures in the Irish Times and stop making such silly comments. Dummy !
Jane, you know what they say……the picture tells the story, some things will never change in this country. Dummy
Garda Reserves Chris, read the article as well as look at the bright pictures!
A man your age kris should have more common sense !!!! They would be the first people you’d call if you had a problem & don’t pretend you wouldn’t because anybody who thinks they wouldn’t are liars, simple. They are a helpful organisation to the public that get very little thanks & nothing but abuse! I for one would not do there job for even the Taoiseach’s salary…..
I understand there have been cutbacks. However, I was stuck in that traffic on my return home. There were guards at every roundabout, one of which was around the corner from my house. I live on my own. I was gone from my house for only half an hour. What would have happened if someone had broken in and was still there when I returned to the house? I know that wasn’t the case but in recent months there have been a spate of break ins around where I live. Given that there was a match on, it’s a good time for burglars. Why would the guards take the chance that it was a false alarm? They are there for the protection of the people.
Jesus Niamh, now I know why you live on your own!!!!!
What in the name of God are you on about?????
They didn’t take that chance, they were directed to perform traffic duty and, until otherwise directed, have to remain there. Of course they are there for protection of the people. You should talk to one of them about this, they will tell you. My local station has twenty odd thousand people and at times they don’t have enough people to put out a patrol car, I don’t blame them for that! Am I unhappy about this? Yes but that’s the way it is
I really don’t have confidence in the Gardai but it has nothing to do with this latest stuff with Alan Shatter and the whistle blowers.
Rank and file just follow orders of higher ranks, so how can you support one and condemn the people telling them what to do.
Until rank a file come out and expose the corrupt practices they are part of it.
As the old saying goes you are either part of the solution or part of the problem.
thats what the SS gaurds said in dacko vinny
Yes indeed and that’s what happens when people blindly follow orders for the sake of complying with authority when it all goes wrong the order followers become accountable for their actions and their only defence is I was following orders.
I think that they are a disgrace ,rank and file , god save us all if they were issued hand guns
With shatter at the helm it’s a hard one to call
I don’t trust the gardai. I was mugged at knife point and the gardai took my statement but never followed up; there were CCTV cameras where it happened. I tried to follow up with the garda listed as the point person for it but he was never on duty when I called and he never called back. I then spoke to his superior and he never called me back either with any kind of update. Another time, I saw a boy being beaten up by a gang in town and found some gardai on a nearby street and pointed the gang out to them but the gardai didn’t care and just kept standing around.
No confidence in the Gardai when they have become modern day Stasi. They turned their back on our community this week by facilitating Irish Waters forage in to Rochfortbridge and stood back and wouldn’t even mediate, I don’t expect sides to be taken that’s not their job but the entire community feels really hurt. They strip searched a juvenile on the green in front of the community on Monday . They were more concerned about a few barriers that went for a hop over night than assault and intimidation by coffey Northumbria. We mounted a protest outside the station last night at 8 pm as soon as we arrived the entire village had a black out of power and when we finished the power came back. Very strange! Relations in the community have been broken all over our police being prostituted out to protect Elites business interests. When the gardai have to strip off and get into G4S uniforms and get pay cuts they won’t have any support from our community.
How can you have confidence in a force that persecuted one of their own for doing his job to the standard the oath he took expected and not to the standards he found around him within the force
They say never make a police man your friend, hence never trusted the species
Crikey, I don’t know who “They” are but they’re missing out on a load of craic
They should have exterminated your species!!!!!
I think we should move towards a more Libertarian model of Law enforcement. Firstly, certain “crimes” should not be crimes at all. Voluntary agreements between consenting adults should be viewed as such.
Secondly, state forces should be used to investigate only the most serious crime such as murder. Lesser and public order crimes could be tackled with private security. I know that sounds extreme, but bear with me.
We all have to pay for police services anyway. Even the unemployed pay through VAT. The service provided is inconsistent at best. So in essence, one is forced to pay for a service, dedicated to upholding the law of the state, not personal security (admittedly, much of the law is to do with personal security, but not exclusively so). And a service that people have no recourse to challenge.
Now, imagine a private security company (I don’t mean one subcontracted by the state, but one directly employed by a residents association or a group of businesses) doing the work of a police force. Firstly, they would be cheaper than the police are. Secondly, they are incentivised to provide the best service possible (or lose the contract). Therefore they are accountable to people in ways the state police never will be.
First of all the gardai need to stop enforcing statutes, they should only be concerned with actual Law, (harm loss injury, fraud).
why do i see images of 25-30 gardai doing water meter duty? we obviously have too many of them if they can be baby sitting Irish water all day.
Why do the gardai assist in evicting families? it is illegal under the irish constitution to forcfully enter the dwelling of the citizen, but the gards seem happy enough to do it every day of the week.
why are they stealing cars off people who have no tax disc in the window? thats a civil matter, and this is a devastated economy of course people cant afford tax on their car, which it turns out goes to Irish Water anyway, this whole country is a joke and Dennis O’Brien is laughing all the way to the bank.
An Garda Siochana means “guardians of the peace” not guardians of corruption so wake up gardai and stop following unlawful orders
Some of them are corrupt but the really shocking thing is how they treated children
Corruption trickles down from the top not from the bottom up.
Theyr a lazy shower!!! One word..Killinaskully…!!!! They come out of the woodwork for match days but not a sight a one at a crime scene when needed!!!
Its a shame No member of AGS will stand up and say I didn’t sign up to be part of Denis obriens private army…… also a shame it took more than two to arrest kids and politicians
Nobody yet mentioned Gemma O’Doherty?
Off topic but interesting:
http://www.politics.ie/forum/justice/234142-joe-doocey-corrupt-gardai-destroyed-my-life.html
Every human being and every human organisation is and will be flawed. Natural Law principles are guides and one has to ensure that the group does not accept illegal-immoral habits are tolerated. That is what plagues this Government in general and the Minister for Justice and Gardai in this case. Supervisory independent agencies, independent of the main actors are an absolute need. Audits of government expenses and all State institutions are ever needed. This Coalition has done too much blaming of FF and been intolerant of the Laundry epoch and vicious to the Church Vatican and Cardinal Sean Brady it is their turn to see their ox gored and eat humble pie and get converted. Time to root out the rot and not paint it over with spin
This might be slightly off topic but interesting none the less. If you are interested:
http://www.politics.ie/forum/justice/234142-joe-doocey-corrupt-gardai-destroyed-my-life.html
Check out this mans story and take your own views from it.
For normal policing and keeping the peace yes.
For corporate and political policing no. But then again it has always been that way. But corporate policing like Irish Water is a dark new chapter.
The cover ups like Fr. Molly in Offaly have always gone on. The Touhy case I don’t know what to make of it.
I have numerous friends that are garda and I feel sorry for them right now but there is the element within the garda be it ego or worn down by constant abuse catching criminal’s only to see them slip through the justice system from inadequate laws but I dont condone incitement or misuse of the power they have regardless of the situation as I found out for myself but lets say if cctv wasnt around id be posting from prison I for one have confidence in the law although its wavering watch and hearing some of whats happening I still feel as the time gose on there situation will get worse asnd without public support it wont be a happy time for them
In my line of work,,,,Communication /s is a vital part of my role,,,,So much importance is now placed in being able to communicate with others, that their are companies specialising in providing communications training courses, in public sector, banks, insurance compamies,factories, corporations, media,the list goes on,,,,,if the GS are engaging the services of one of these communication training providers,,,,I can only assume that it is a friend of a friend of a friend that is providing it,,,,they could never be accused of getting value for money,,,,( ohh yeah,sure its taxpayers money,,,,getting value for that was never high on the Public Service wish list anyway),,,,Gardai that I meet have in the most part got the communication skills and the charm of a rusty barbed wire fence,,,and many appear to be suffering with massive EGO and Power Tripping syndromes,,,,Please , you members of that now much discredited and fatally wounded force , try and remenmber when engaging with us the public,,,you are actually engaging with your employer/s,,,,yes US,,,
Jasus mick, communication in your line of work cannot be important as your use of the comma is ridiculous
i gave a guard a “high five” yesterday,mind you i was on my bike and he had his had up stopping traffic!!
#rank and file….. took my car away from me… hunting the masses……….they can have it……..hisssssss
I met one guard who had dived into a river to save a man from drowning ,a hero ,I reported a robbery in my garage was never recorded when i went to get a form signed for insurance ,i was abused verbally but because i would not back down i got it signed,,, total ar&Ehole ,But the gardai have lost a lot of respect due to protecting water meter workers ,Those whistle-blowers within the gardai were mistreated by the brass and their own colleagues ,Sending out a clear signal ignore corruption and wrong doing and you will get on ,The trouble is at the top management sucking up to whatever government is in power to advance their career ,If you know any Garda Reserve member ask him how he /she is treated left on their own and ignored in the station ,
No just got bullied and threatened by one last week in my home because I objected to the late hour bell door bashing and reason for there call on a simple matter of a minuscule fine unrelated to me
The Gardai have in the last 10 -15 years became the enemy of the people especially in rural Ireland where the ruined our culture and our traditions by breathalysing people that only had two pint and who were doing it all their lives and stopping them and putting them off the road bachelors farmers who lived miles from anywhere and their only day out was their day market day Saturday and a game of cars while mad while youngsters were joyriding all around the place see how many have and is committing suicide. Then the people who stood against Enda Kenny Government on Water Charges it was scandalous what they were doing.They must sit down or they will dig a grave for themself .
who do they serve because i know its not me…
I always admired The Garda. But in recent times through the Protests I have seen a lot of Bully Boy Tactics. Not so nice to see, as They should be there for everyone, not just Politicians.
Multiple voting here by Sinn Fein and like minded groups all voting no?
I don’t support sinn feinn
Let me get this straight ! If someone doesn’t agree with the Garda , maybe because of the way they handled the situation with IW and the protests , your automatically a member of Sinn Fein ? So does that mean that the likes of you and others who support them are all traitors with the blueshirt and labour parties .. Only someone from FG would come out with a statement like that …
They are cowards and abusers these people are the line to help people from the bad but we have see they have no line anymore they are water maids for o brien use , and we have seen and heard they are the new drug dealers and movers who’s going to stop a police car full of drugs well , time for them to go and that thing for a boss paid for by o brien .
have your say