Fun Leary

A day out with gardaí from Dún Laoghaire is a special treat discovered Editor John O’Keeffe – professionalism writ large

My 91-year-old mother has a name for them. “Lovely young men,” she calls them. I have never quite known who these “lovely young men” were, or indeed if they even existed – that is until I met Garda Seán Sheehy and Garda Adrian Myers attached to Dún Laoghaire Garda Station. These guys have it all and then some. Courteous, polite, professionals and with a word for everyone they meet, they are surely a modern breed of officers who combine cutting edge policing skills but with the old-fashioned manners we, the public, love.

The day I went out with them in the car we were, somewhat ironically, on bike patrol – the ‘Theft of Pedal Cycles Reduction Initiative’ to be more precise. This is a multi-faceted approach to reducing instances of pedal cycle theft through the deployment of an unmarked patrol, in tandem with an information campaign through info-graphic bikes.

This has been one of the many initiatives supported and encouraged by the station’s new Superintendent of six months, Barry Walsh – a member of the Force now for almost 24 years, most of which have been in operational policing. (Always a winner with your Frontline). He certainly has his work cut out for him as the Dún Laoghaire population is close to 100,000 with 2,186 businesses. The pandemic has presented the station with challenges of course but he advises that, “all members of the District force here have really put their shoulders to the wheel.”

Like many other stations, they’ve been well-resourced as a result of the roster changes, which have provided them with the capacity to have up to five uniformed mobiles each day, along with beats and mountain bike support at peak times – all complimented with DDU mobile support. The net outcome, Barry Walsh says is that, “we have had an ongoing capacity and flexibility to very quickly adopt our local policing plan to implement the Covid related policing requirements.”

Whether in the front office or wandering around the station meeting members, the atmosphere was palpable. Work can be fun – especially when it’s undertaken with commitment and enthusiasm. This goes for every function and yes – even the area known as the ‘Duty Planning Unit’. While it might not sound too exotic to non-members, it is the very life blood of a garda’s working life. The Unit has responsibility for working on the new Roster and Duty Management System (RDMS). The DMR East was a pilot district for this new project, which will now be rolled out across the organisation and as Barry Walsh says, “from a management perspective, RDMS lets you plan ahead with accuracy.” Duty Planners, Garda Colm Gleeson and Ms. Sarah Brown are considered, “duty planning royalty” and form part of a wider team who ensure that Dún Laoghaire sets the benchmark for all that will follow.

Back out on the streets of the borough, it remains all about community relations. Indeed, if a lad from Venus was to come down from space and ask you to point out what a Community Police Officer was, you’d need look no further than Sergeant Georgie Reilly and Garda Marion Power (featured on the cover of this issue). These women are quite simply the beating heart, perhaps not just of their station, but their neighbourhood. I mean is there anyone who doesn’t know them? And the public (good and maybe not so good) really do seem to love them. It’s easy to see why. They have a manner about them and an intuition that you will rarely find and were born to be gardaí. Truly, they exemplify every policing plan that was ever cobbled together by someone in a suit in some tower – and then some.
Did I like them? Hmmm… Yes I did!

And, of course, you underestimate the importance of community relations in any District at your peril. In this regard Dún Laoghaire Station has its residents covered. From the ‘Theft of Pedal Cycles Reduction Initiative’ to the participation on the Southside Travellers Action Group (STAG) to the Domestic Abuse Coordination Team (DACT), Superintendent Walsh captains the good ship Dún Laoghaire like the experienced Navigator he is – with of course an exceptional Frontline crew.

Has he therefore one final message to his Frontline I wonder? “I would like to acknowledge the commitment and dedication of each and every member for their ongoing efforts in serving the community here in Dún Laoghaire, those who work within our community and those who visit to enjoy our amenities, especially throughout the current pandemic.”
The Mammy was right. “Lovely men” (and women).

For full and in-depth coverage, see the current printed edition of Garda Review.