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MINISTER FOR JUSTICE Helen McEntee has announced a new recruitment drive for Garda reserves, which opens for applications today and closes on 4 July.
McEntee has set a target of having at least 1,000 reserves by 2026. There are currently 332 active reserves, according to An Garda Síochána.
The Garda Reserve was founded in 2006. It is a volunteer service drawn from local communities and at its peak in 2013 it had 1,164 members. Reserves work alongside full-time gardaí and assist in a variety of policing tasks.
Those include helping with traffic policing, boosting Garda numbers during State visits, policing public order incidents and assisting with crowd control at large scale public events.
“Reserves bring a variety of experiences and perspectives to the organisation, including local knowledge and links to the communities in which they serve, which brings to life An Garda Síochána’s core value of community policing,” McEntee said.
McEntee’s Justice Department said it had secured an increase in the maximum tax-free stipend paid to reserve members from €1,000 per year for over 100 hours of volunteering to €3,000 for over 200 hours of volunteering in a year.
A graduated scale of stipend will apply depending on the total number of hours volunteered, the Department said.
“This is part of my overall plan to boost Garda recruitment,” McEntee said.
Garda recruitment and retention has been an ongoing difficulty for the Government and one measure taken by McEntee was raising the minimum age for applicants to join the full-time force.
“We have significantly increased the Garda Training allowance by 66%, increased the age of entry from 35 to 50, and will shortly enact legislation to increase the mandatory retirement age from 60 to 62,” the minister said.
“This year 6,300 people applied to join An Garda Síochána, a significant increase on the number applying last year.”
She said that “no stone will be left unturned” and that she was continuing to look at additional measures to help boost recruitment.
“The Garda Reserve is a big part of our plan.”
Garda.ie lists the requirements for joining the reserves as follows:
Be aged at least 18 and no older than 59.
Be a national of European Member State, an EEA State, the UK or the Swiss Confederation.
Live in the State for a period of 1 year prior to date of application and have spent 4 of the last 8 years as a resident in the State. For a total requirement of 5 years of residency.
Be in good health with good vision.
Be of good character.
A Grade of not less than a D3 or O6 in 5 subjects at not lower than ordinary level in the Leaving Certificate.
A Level 5 Certificate or greater that is recognised with the National Framework of Qualifications or equivalent as determined by Quality and Qualifications Ireland.
Proficient in either or both Irish and English.
More details can be found at publicjobs.ie.
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Good on him
Seems cheap for a billboard. Good on him.
He should apply to Tv3. “I take other peoples original ideas and make a low budget version of it and claim it as my own!”
Fantastic!
Yeah I could really do with a job
haha Pause his video at 12 seconds in… ” Davina McCall : Please Stop Emailing ” … Persistent Lad!
Enterprising. He stands out from the crowd and he is using the medium that he wants to work in to best effect. PLease God he’ll have plenty of offers.
Fintan, if he gets a job then will that be because of his initiative or god?
Haha!! Why do people mention god!!!
Good idea but “im desperate for a job” ” i only want to work in media” is endemic of the problem we seem to have with people getting jobs, people only want to work in certain, usually fashionable industries.
I have no idea why you’re getting so many red thumbs. I love this misguided idea that you’re entitled to your dream job in your locality/country.
I study media because I want to direct and produce documentaries about issues of concern. The Irish Abortion debate, how the government retains power through political apathy and the manufacture of consent, feminism in the 21st century. I want to give a voice to the voiceless. I’ve already directed a documentary about cystic fibrosis. I have always been interested in documentary production. I’m not studying media because its ‘fashionable’. I couldn’t give a shit about fame or presenting. It’s hard to get into and competitive as hell but if I don’t go for it I definitely won’t make it. Some people have something called passion. If we were all employed in jobs we hated, then we wouldn’t really be living would we?! We’d just be slaves to the wage in jobs we hate.
Lisa I accept that, but this man is so desperate to get a job he spent his last 500 on a billboard , hes not one to be picking and choosing , looking for jobs in the media is just fine but considering the “recession” this man doesnt seem as desperate considering he started his ad with “if you work in keep watching”
Hey Lisa,
Best of luck with your career. At the same time I’m sure you accept the fact that the odds are very heavily stacked against people making a career in media in Ireland these days. If none are forthcoming when you graduate then you will probably have to settle for something else to tide you over. This is the reality of life….very few people end up doing what their dream job was as a teenager.
I have quite a few friends who tried to make careers for themselves in music and sport and it didn’t work out for them. In the end they settled for what they could get. I’m afraid that’s life in the middle of recession Ireland. You and your peers are going to have to accept that.
Degree in media studies….
I dated this lad. Mort
Cassie. I heard his next campaign is to billboard pictures of his exes.
Now that shows initiative! Good on him.
Pause the video at 12 seconds , he applied to babestation to be an on screen model???
Planted for viral hope I think
Guy in my work stood outside the Bank of England at lunchtime with sandwich boards handing out flyers that were kind of like a condensed version of his CV. He’s a smart guy anyway but managed to get a job on a graduate scheme for a large UK bank.
Check your header, is his name Alan or Adam… Obviously the billboard had an impact on you!
Well done, the error was corrected. I love the Orwellian way in which the journal corrects historically, with no mention if the error, Winston Smith would be proud! ;)
Original, informative & funny…
I would suspect that he’s already reemployed.
Brilliant
How is it original? And Irish guy did the exact same thing last year.
Fantastic . Fair play to him.
he is a total nerd. and probably unemployable.
Fair play to him, genuinely looking for work unlike some other sad sacks.
Brilliant idea…perfect for getting a job in media but I would wonder how effective it would be if a nurse or primary teacher took a billboard? Wonder how the HSE or Department of Education would react??!!;)
Waster,500 quid down the gary glitter,imagine him looking after your budget
Maybe he could take a sweeping brush with him to the site tomorrow and show how good he is with it. The place is nearly as dirty as Dublin.
His last 500 on the billboard? So the website hosting, design and domain name registration career first…..
Peep show: http://youtu.be/RMzJ9nXSR50
As a media student I fear a similar faith…. My dreams of documentary production are slowly being replaced by a fear that I’ll end up as the runner on some shitty talk show, making coffees and shouting “quiet on set”. Ugh.
have your say