New students addressed by Minister for Justice and Equality, and Garda Commissioner on the 15/9/14

The first group of students to begin training in the Garda College since 2009 were today addressed by the Minister for Justice and Equality Frances Fitzgerald TD and the Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan.

Background of Students

#   The 100 students are made up of 18 females and 82 males. 24 former Garda Reserve members are included in the intake.

#   A total of 22 Irish counties are accounted for in the group, with Dublin providing the largest number of students with 26. Eight counties provide one student apiece, while there are two students with current addresses outside of the island of Ireland ( Suffolk and London). All students are Irish citizens.

#   The students range in age from 20 to 33, with the top three ages represented being 25 (14 people), 23 (13 people), and 21 (12 people). There is one 35 year old.

#   Included in the group of students are those with degrees in Law, Business, Biotechnology, Social Studies, Environmental Engineering and Sociology, and masters in Criminology and Human Rights in Criminal Justice. Some of the students have been working as engineers, fitness instructors, psychiatric nurses, carpenters and plumbers. There are both senior and minor camogie and football players represented in the group of students.
 

Course Background

 
The students will be undertaking a BA in Applied Policing.  The programme was developed following comprehensive review of Garda training in 2009. The BA is an accelerated programme with the students carrying out three phases of learning, each of which is the equivalent of an academic year. It is accredited by the University of Limerick.
 

Director of Training and Development in An Garda Síochána, Chief Superintendent Anne-Marie McMahon, speaking about the programme, said:
 

"The rigorous training that the students will be facing will equip them with the tools they need to provide the professional, efficient policing service that is expected by Irish communities today. Our training programme has been updated to focus on problem solving, and reflects the daily duties and responsibilities of Gardai. It will ensure that the students will be trained to a standard befitting a 21st century police service.”
 

Note:
 

The programme –
 

The methodologies employed by the BA in Applied Policing are designed to ensure the students learn in a consistent and coherent manner, while additionally addressing the issue of the ‘theory/practice’ gap identified by the 2009 training review.
 

A blended learning approach has been adopted, utilising hybrid Problem Based Learning (PBL), Work Based Learning (WBL) and competency development methodologies.
 

Phase I of the programme, delivered in the Garda College over 32 weeks, adopts a hybrid PBL approach to learning.  Trainees learn in small groups through engagement with realistic policing scenarios.
 

On successful completion of Phase I trainees will be conferred with full policing powers to enable full engagement with WBL phases of the programme as Probationer Gardaí.
 

Phase II is of 34 weeks duration and is delivered in policing divisions through WBL.  During the first 17 weeks, probationers ‘assist’ a trained peer tutor Garda, followed by 17 weeks of being ‘assisted’  by a tutor.
 

During Phase III, delivered over 38 weeks between the Garda College and operational divisions, probationers act autonomously in their role as members of An Garda Síochána and follow a more integrated programme of professional competency learning and development under supervision.  Probationers will also follow a programme of formal learning. 
 

Joining the force –
 

Applicants must be 18 years of age but not yet 35 years of age on midnight of the closing date for the competition specified in the advertising campaign to which the admission relates.  In respect of the current campaign the closing date is the 9 January 2014, therefore you must have been born between 10 January 1979 and 9 January 1996.
 

To join applicants must:-
 

(i)   Be a national of a European Union Member State, or

(ii)  Be a national of an EEA State or the Swiss Confederation, or
 

(iii) Be a refugee under the Refugee Act, 1996, or
 

(iv)  Have a period of 1 year's continuous residence in the State on the closing date of the advertisement for the competition for the vacancy to which the admission relates, and during the eight years immediately preceding that period, has had a total residence in the State amounting to four years, or