AN INTREPID MOUSE who caused “mass panic”, a rodent with a taste for Milk Tray chocolate, and a small creature “gnawing” at walls were among the pest issues at Garda headquarters over the past year.

Copies of inspection reports from An Garda Síochána reveal how one daring mouse created bedlam at a garda building in February of this year with monitoring stations set up to trap him.

“A live mouse is currently causing mass panic in the building opposite the Technical Bureau main entrance,” said an exterminator’s report.

In another report from last September, the facilities section logged what they believe to be a “rodent problem” in their offices.

“I have been hearing what is presumably a mouse gnawing at the walls,” said an incident form, “and now it seems to be trying to chew through the carpet tiles.”

An inspection found no evidence of rodent activity however, with an exterminator climbing up to the attic with a mirror and torch in a vain attempt to locate the intruder.

A sweet-toothed raider was also reported at the buildings of Forensic Science Ireland (FSI) in Garda HQ in February, according to the reports that were released.

An inspection report noted: “Mice have eaten through [a] box of chocolates upstairs in Annex Building,” with an accompanying picture of the half-eaten treats.

A later report said there was a further incursion by mice into a drawer on the bottom floor of FSI’s annex building.

Pest controllers sealed around pipes where services were coming into the building, hoping to deter the unwelcome creatures.

Another report said there was evidence of “mouse activity” in an annex building… staff had been storing food in a drawer and the rodent had been “chewing” on it.

A pest controller again recommended sealing all holes where services entered the complex to ensure there was no easy access for unwelcome visitors.

Other reports included the discovery of a dead Norwegian rat – otherwise known as rattus norvegicus – who appeared to have infiltrated an OPW hut on the garda complex.

The carcass was double-bagged and placed in domestic waste, while poison was placed directly in rat burrows found nearby.

A report from March speculated that rodents might be using ivy that was growing up the outside of a building as a means of entry.

It added: “Deep cleaning of drawers and desktop in upstairs offices may need to be carried out.”

Later that month, a new inspection warned of the risk of a broken window at the back of the Officer’s Club, saying it was a point of vulnerability for rodent raiders.

“[It was] replaced with mouse mesh to stop ingress of pests,” said the report.

A separate set of reports from Harcourt Square – where several specialist garda units are based – reported a clean bill of health on the pest front.

No clear activity was logged by an inspector with no evidence of rodent activity or carcasses and no follow-up visit required.

A spokesman for An Garda Síochána said their headquarters was located across a large campus on the edge of the Phoenix Park in Dublin.

He said: “This is a major Victorian complex on a fifteen-acre historical site, in which there are a large number of standalone buildings of a wide variance in terms of size, age, construction method, materials, etc.

“The Garda HQ complex itself is situated in the Phoenix Park which covers over 1,700 acres. The Phoenix … offers broad and diverse habitats for birds and other wildlife. Some other animals present in the Phoenix Park include wild deer, badgers, foxes, hedgehogs, rabbits, squirrels, house mice, wood mice and brown rats.

“With this in mind … the Facilities Management Office routinely manage emergency callouts for a number of pests, most notably pigeons, ants and mice which are often present within the Garda HQ Complex.”