People from ‘all backgrounds and communities’ needed at An Garda Síochána, says Commissioner
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said he needs people from “all backgrounds and communities” to join the service as the latest recruitment campaign opened.
“An Garda Síochána is an increasingly diverse organisation. We have one of the highest rates of female officers in Europe and in our last Garda competition more than 20 per cent of applicants were from minority communities,” said Mr Harris.
“However, we recognise that we have more to do in this regard to meet our aim of being fully representative of the people we serve. We want, and need, people from all backgrounds and communities to be Gardaí, and I would ask them to please apply.
“This is the only way we will get the representation among our ranks that communities need and deserve.
“We also want to attract people who have gone overseas to come back and be a Garda. This is a great opportunity to make a positive impact on the country you grew up in.”
To promote the recruitment competition, a 550,000 euro promotional campaign under the tagline of ‘It’s A Job Worth Doing’ has gone live across TV, national and local print and radio, online, social media, and outdoors.
The campaign will also target Irish people living in countries such as the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Mr Harris said: “Being a Garda is a great job. You get to make a real difference in people’s lives. Policing is in an honourable career and an extension of good citizenship. Every day, Gardaí keep communities and people safe through our unique approach to policing by consent.
“It is a tough job that has its challenges, but what you will get out of it in terms of job satisfaction far outweighs those.
“As I have said before, we want to not only meet the Government target of 15,000 Gardaí, but given population growth and demographic change, as well as the rapidly changing nature of crime, I believe there is a strong case for more than 15,000 Gardaí.”
The recruitment campaign is based on insights from Gardaí and features real-life examples from individual Gardaí of how they have helped people and communities.
The campaign aims to show the nature of the job – working at 4am, making arrests, being physical active, as well as the significant personal and social benefits such as engaging with communities, arresting criminals, helping victims of crime, and the camaraderie of colleagues.
Mr Harris added: “Being a Garda is not for everybody. It requires working late nights and early mornings. Having to get into physical confrontations. Being active. We want to make that clear to people right up front so that we attract high quality candidates who will thrive in a career as a Garda.
“I’m confident that there are many people out there who have the skills and attitude to make excellent Guards, and this is a great opportunity to join us and make a real difference.”
Recruitment is open until April 14 and will be run by the Public Appointments Service on behalf of An Garda Síochána.
The media and creative for the advertising campaign was produced by Core and Spark Foundry in conjunction with H2 Films.