JUSTICE MINISTER CHARLIE Flanagan has today welcomed 201 new members to An Garda Síochána following their attestation at the Garda Training College, Templemore. 

The new recruits will now be deployed to serve communities around the country. 

Today’s ceremony brings to 3,200 the number of gardaí that have attested and been assigned to frontline policing duties since the reopening of the Garda Training College in 2014. 

Of the 201 probationers that attested today, 19 were born outside the jurisdiction. They were born in countries including Germany, Romania, England, the US, Latvia, Australia, Poland and Italy. 

28% of the gardaí that attested today are women. 

The budgetary allocation to An Garda Síochána for 2020 will allow Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to recruit up to 700 new gardaí and additional Garda staff this year. 

Meanwhile, an expanded Victims Charter was launched today and is available online here. 

It outlines the rights of victims throughout the different stages of the criminal justice system, following the reporting of a crime.

Speaking at the event today, Minister Flanagan welcomed the steps taken by An Garda Síochána to respond to the needs of victims. 

These include the establishment of Garda victim support offices in all Garda divisions, staffed by specially trained personnel responsible for ensuring that victims of crime are kept informed as their case progresses through the criminal justice system. 

Concluding his remarks, Minister Flanagan reminded the probationers that “effective policing depends on securing the confidence, support and cooperation of communities”. 

“Gardaí have always worked with the most vulnerable in our society – through the caring and supportive delivery of community policing; and in dealing sensitively with victims of crime,” he said. 

“This is a proud tradition that I have no doubt you will adopt as your own.”