They can’t cut us anymore, we have no more to give. I know colleagues who have to try and take a day off as they can’t put petrol in their car but you can’t even get leave now as the units are so understaffed. Only one car in the district so people are waiting an hour or two for a response. It’s embarrassing. Detective units changing their shifts every week in order to have enough people for search & arrest operations as no overtime but you can’t see your colleagues stuck or in danger. Not been able to take leave as no cover and crime sleeps for nobody. Personal mobiles getting work calls every day on rest days. Having to use our own laptops to try and get paperwork done & for internet access. GRA telling us not to but it’s easy for them to say that, you can’t get your work done otherwise. We’re stuck inside doing paperwork which has doubled since Pulse came online instead of reducing paperwork. Cars falling apart and not being replaced.Closing rural stations which means there will be people in rural areas who never see a guard unless they’re a victim of crime and even then they’ll have to wait until a car available. Having to ring the mortgage company again to get the monthly mortgage reduced (again). Married female members who can’t afford to have a child as cant afford childcare and no family around as they live in a different county. We want to work and are bending over backwards to work because we used to love our jobs but the public have no idea how bad it really is.

Actually better still read this. Copied and pasted as well
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/letters/heres-how-we-can-build-a-better-safer-garda-siochana-3368151.html

After the death of Detective Garda Adrian Donohue, I cannot sleep. Yes, I have emigrated, but I still care. I was a garda for seven years and am now a constable with the West Australian Police Service.

I am in a unique position as I can see now the brilliance of An Garda Siochana in many ways, and also the things it lacks as a force due to political ignorance. My new job has opened my eyes so much.

1. Interviewing: Allow gardai to interview in a free-flowing capacity. Gardai currently interview in a stop-start way that allows criminals time to think and evade questions. Gardai have to write everything down. Labour-intensive and pointless. When you interview a suspect in a fast, free-flowing way, the criminal is easier to nail down. Michael McDowell attempted to change this but it never happened. Why?

2. Place Pulse (police computer system) in every vehicle. Every other police force has this as standard.

3. A DNA database still doesn’t exist in Ireland. Currently, in Australia, if you arrest someone for a crime that carries a prison sentence of a year or more, DNA can be taken from a suspect. This gets stored to a permanent database.

4. I think it is time to arm every garda and allow them time to practice at a firing range minimum twice a year. I am sorry but the day of Michael Staines saying, “the Garda Siochana will succeed not by force of arms or numbers, but on their moral authority as servants of the people” is over. They should be carrying tasers also.

5. Ignore Merkel’s demands and the need to save more money when it comes to justice. If a government keeps health and justice on the right track, the people will be relatively happy, even if you do cut other things. A politician who tinkers with health and justice will get the wrath of the of the public in a recession when things fall apart… eg, a garda being killed.

6. Give gardai cars that are roadworthy, not ready for the rubbish tip.

7. Stop closing stations. The lack of local knowledge that gets cut off by removing community gardai is so substantial that it’s only when a killing or dreadful act occurs that investigators realise they don’t know what is going on in an area anymore.

8. Unite the PSNI and Garda in an unprecedented way. Sign a cross-border agreement that allows gardai and PSNI to chase offenders over the border. The PSNI and Garda have a tremendous relationship. It’s time to go further.

9. Prison sentences. Judges in Ireland… what can I say about the sentences they hand down? Enough said. This seriously needs to change.

10. Prisons. Ireland needs more.

11. Stop cutting garda pay. Morale drops. It affects performance.

Constable Peter Crosbie
WA Police and former proud member of An Garda Siochana

We go about our job quietly, competently and for the most part, professionally.

For the most part our job is great. And fulfilling. And rewarding.

But sometimes it’s horrendous. And scary. And frustrating. And damn hard. And upsetting. And difficult. And depressing. And belittling. And soul destroying.

And it makes us into people we don’t particularly like or respect sometimes.

But we do it. And we put up with it. And we ask our families and friends to accept it. And so fcuking what if we ask for decent remuneration in return, because Jesus Christ nobody else will step up and take responsibility.

We aren’t teachers or Doctors or engineers or builders or technicians or lawyers or specialists or oncologists or estate agents or journalists or farmers or vets or carpenters or social workers or soldiers or heroes.

We are Police.

Recognise us. Pay us. Support us. We are genuinely doing our best.

We’d all strike tomorrow if we wouldn’t be fired.

http://www.thestar.ie/star/alan-shatters-appalling-joke-about-garda-stations/

Disgusting comments made by shatter as reported by Senator John Whelan.

Ann Marie im delighted you’ve come out and said all this. Its all true and more we’re simply not allowed to talk about it. Like all the gardas in dundalk working all the hours god sends since d/gda donohoes death and not claiming a penny overtime…because thats just what we do for our own. And all the other gardas from other counties coming to dundalk on their days off to help out for NOTHING. I’ve wanted to be a garda for as long as I remember but the past few years have been so hard. My husband is unemployed. Not entitled to jobseekers so one wage to support a family of four. It costs me 100 euro in petrol to get to work!!! I can’t get closer to home. .no recruitment..no transfers. Im better off on job seekers with all the perks they seem to get. ..rent allowance. ..medical card. .back to school allowance. This just cant go on.

Bet the (so called) government brush over the pay cuts to an Garda and make their sleveen cuts elsewhere.
Inspector clueless will be left with egg on his face.

It’s time to stand up against the bullying tactics the government are trying to impose! If the GRA and AGSI agree to unite and take the government on at there own game they could cause world wide attention by organising work stoppages during a high profiled event such as events linked to holding the Presidency of the Council of European Union. It would be interesting to see the government arranging alternative policing and security for these events

I reckon , the other unions should take example from the Garda unions and pull out of the talks. Also ALL unions should push back hard against all the austerity measures being imposed on us. Private and public sector unions. Do not allow them to divide us . The nurses are an example to us all. SOLIDARITY.

The sergeants and inspectors, like everyone else, have the human right to make representations and bargain collectively, whether their organisation is called a trade union or not. I can quite see why they want to call the Government out on the disgraceful threat to break their contracts by legislation.

Well said tara 100%fact . And last Wednesday all we heard was every resource is being put into the investigation . Be careful what you post on this. And well done to fitzpatricks for putting up grub to the extra gardai working for free on their days off

If we agree to the extra working hour a day that saves the state 80 million a year. That is 20 million more than they are looking for over the next 3 years.

Except we were told that the savings made from this measure would not count towards the 60 million they want to cut from us

What a joke . 2 per cent pay cut to commissioner level in an garda siochana . Assistant commissioners earn over 100k while the commissioner earns 200k now these people want to cut night / Sunday/Saturday/bank holiday allowance to the plebs on the ground while they know well it won’t effect themselves coz they only work 9-5 mon to fri. Sorry lads uv picked the wrong one here . I hope agsi and the Gra stand up for once to this crap and go out on Blu flue . Shatter u are a disgrace and have set the Gardai back 20 years in your two years in power .

Noonan is all talk. He didn’t even correct homework when he was teaching.

I don’t usually believe in omens,good or bad but there is something very unsettling about the position,the photographer choose to take that picture at.Like two specters of stupidity and greed,sitting on either shoulder.
“Don’t have nightmares,do sleep well.”

The head on Noonan.. He looks like he’s threatenin to let John Redmond have the back of his hand..

Let them cut the bloody pay and then sod off. I’d rather they cut it right across the top than bother with any more farcical pay talks. Tell us how much we owe, thanks and good luck. Senior Garda managers, many many of whom have held their 9-5 ranks for years get 2% cuts from their substantial salaries while the frontline members get burned and burned over and over. They don’t work shift so they don’t lose. Many of them are bone useless. This is just wrong and it Is a microcosm of how this disaster of a government will be forever remembered; spare the wealthy. Shift work is a disaster for Gardai at the best of times. Driving around jaded in patrol cars all night waiting for the next serious call/episode, working Christmases, weekends etc etc etc and they want to slash the wages again. Gardai already work ten hour day and night shifts. Now they want an eleven hour shift for the same price and this is on top of the cuts. The goodwill that was once in the force is now gone and so is the motivation of even the most able and dedicated guys. Only what needs to be done in future will be done. Sometimes it’s the bit extra that makes all the difference and sadly the Garda force as people remember it will be unrecognisable. In fact it is entirely conceivable that members of our rural communities will never see a Garda ever again. Now minister Shatter, take your cut, whatever it may be and kindly don’t insult us anymore.

https://www.facebook.com/es.zerohour?ref=tn_tnmn

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/1171/irelandfeudalism.png

There is a march organised February 9th lets see how many turn up ??? Anybody ??

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Garda%C3%AD-Spouses-Against-Cuts/574285025932226?ref=hl

Please support us

All I know is that it’s time the law abiding citizens of this country needs to get behind the Garda and give them every bit of support that we can. The powers that be are stopping them from speaking out and striking so are we in the private sector going to let this happen or are we going to stay quiet? If we let this happen, we’re next!!

Wrong thread, my mistake! [Meant other thread]

It’s a sort of Nimby approach. Private sector must react , and suffer , according to market demands , but not me.

Pay and allowances have nothing whatever to do with the professionalism of the Police service and the clear implication of the “warning” to the Minister is not either “professional ” Trade Union or acceptable Garda language.

The Gardai are Public Servants.If Public Servants pay and Civil Servants pay is going to be hit then the Gardai should not be exempt.
Having said that I will say that the Public Servants and Civil Servants (those on lower pay) have already been hit and are already down about twenty percent.

This is while the Banks still got their bonuses and pats on the back after destroying our Country.