The Garda National Protective Services Bureau (GNPSB) hosted a conference in Athlone, Co Westmeath today, 26th November 2025, as part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence. The conference – which was attended by around 100 delegates representing more than 50 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) – is part of a standing commitment with NGOs to show developments within GNPSB and An Garda Síochána, and to consolidate new and established relationships through transparency and the sharing of information. GNPSB collaborates daily with NGOs in relation to joint enterprises, policy, victim response and education. Speaking at the conference, Detective Chief Superintendent Colm Noonan of GNPSB said: "Today we hosted out first annual conference where we invited our partners and colleagues across the NGO sector – those people that we work with hand in hand on a daily basis, to try and ensure An Garda Síochána is best responding to victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. "We wanted this opportunity to let all of our partners hear about the work we do, to understand the complexities of what we do and to identify ways we can do all of that work better. "The engagement was superb and it really will give us a solid foundation for building on those relationships, for guiding our future policies, future practices, and identifying gaps that we have to close in An Garda Síochána to consistently deliver the very best service to victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.” Deirdre Kenny, CEO of One in Four Ireland said: "It’s been a really valuable day, to learn about the depth of work that the Protective Services do, the breadth of it, the complexity of it and also, most importantly, the sensitivity of it. "Especially when it comes to the NGO sector, it’s days like this that we get away from the front line and get to share our experiences and that’s just so valuable.” The day-long conference included panel discussions on: • ‘Technology as a Weapon of Domestic Abuse’ with members of the Garda National Domestic Abuse Unit. • ‘Exploitation in the Digital Age’ with members of the Garda Síochána Online Child Exploitation Unit; National Child Protection Unit and Sexual Crime Management Unit. • ‘Use of Technology as an Enabler of Human Trafficking’ with representatives of GNPSB, the Workplace Relations Commission, Ruhama and SERP (the Sexual Exploitation Research and Policy Institute). • ‘GNPSB – Our Responsibilities’ with a representative of Tusla and members of the Criminal Intelligence Office and Sex Offender Management & Intelligence Unit, and Missing Persons Unit within GNPSB. The conference is part of a commitment to incorporate recommendations made by the Garda Inspectorate Report on Domestic Abuse in October 2024 for An Garda Síochána to create formal structures to facilitate multi-agency approaches. https://www.gsinsp.ie/domestic-abuse/ | 