THE NUMBER OF people seeking to join the Gardaí has doubled compared to the previous recruitment campaign, new figures show.

In total, there were 11,075 applicants to join An Garda Síochána in the most recent recruitment campaign, compared to 5,197 in the 2019 recruitment competition.

Of the 11,075 applicants, only 800 are expected to be recruited as Gardaí.

Gardaí have said that approximately 40% of all applicants are women, while there has also been an increase in the number of people applying from a range of ethnic backgrounds.

The vast majority of applicants, over 8,570, declared that their ethnicity was “white-Irish”.

This is a decrease from 88% of the total applicants in 2019 to 77% in 2022.

The breakdown of ethnicities includes:

• 598 said they were “White-Any Other White Background”
• 43 said they were “White-Irish Traveller”
• 332 said they were “Asian or Asian Irish – Any Other Asian Background”
• 55 said they were “Asian or Asian Irish – Chinese”
• 132 said they were “Black or Black Irish-African”
• 22 said they were “Black or Black Irish – Any Other Black Background”
• 122 said they were “Other including Mixed Background”

The remaining 1,196 applicants did not declare their ethnicity or preferred not to say.

According to the Gardaí, there was “significant” outreach by Gardaí at both a local and national level to encourage people of diverse backgrounds to apply to become a Garda.

“In our centenary year, it is very gratifying to see the continuing high level of interest in becoming a member of An Garda Síochána,” said Garda Commissioner Drew Harris.

“The increase in applications from across all ethnic backgrounds is also very welcome and encouraging, as is the level of application from women. We know we have a lot of work to do to become more representative of the public we serve, but this is a good start.”