Drew Harris says two new water cannons to be used in ‘extreme scenarios'

Irish Independent

09-06-2025

Gardaí are also planning to increase the capacity at Templemore so that 1,000 recruits can be attested every year.
Commissioner Drew Harris was speaking today at the launch of a report into how An Garda Síochána has transformed in the seven years under his leadership.
The report states that the number of garda staff has increased by 51pc while 700 body worn cameras are now used by gardaí on a pilot basis.
It says an 'information led' approach has also resulted in almost 15,000 mobility devices being issued to gardaí,
The organisations vehicle fleet is at its highest ever level after spending €75m in the last five years with more than 3,600 cars, armed support vehicles and public order vans, as well as two water cannons now available.
The water cannon trucks have not yet been deployed but were on standby during a recent large demonstration in Dublin city centre.
Each vehicle has two mounted water cannons and are operated by trained gardaí from the public order unit, while they also have a self-extinguishing water system if they are petrol bombed.
Mr Harris said that they will be deployed in 'extreme scenarios' and, referring to the Dublin Riots and Coolock Riots, noted 'very violent incidents' that had occurred in recent years.
He also said that Ireland holds the EU Presidency in 2026 and that they have to be prepared for 'any public order threats that might arise' during that.
'In a very violent situation, we need to make sure that we're not suffering members being injured, as opposed to having the vehicles and the equipment, including water cannons, which can probably deal with very violent disorder. So that's what they're there for,' he said.
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'They're there for pretty extreme scenarios, but they're there to protect the public. They're there to protect members of An Garda Síochána who are engaged in public order policing. So, it is essential that we have them ourselves.'
He also said it was important that the vehicles are adaptive for the streets around Dublin and elsewhere in Ireland where they might be used.
The 'Transforming An Garda Síochána 2018-2024' report was compiled to provide an organisational account of the implementation of the 'A Policing Service for Our Future' programme.
It notes that Garda staff have increased by 51pc since 2018, but that the number of attested gardaí between 2019 and 2024 has reduced from 14,307 to 14,125.
The Garda Commissioner has said that they plan to increase the capacity of the Garda Training College in Templemore to ensure that 1,000 gardaí can graduate every year.
'How we're going to achieve that is really then back to our actual recruitment process. We've revamped all of our processes, to try and speed them up and try and bring people through the process quicker and actually make it more related to the vocation that it is.'
So far 700 gardaí have piloted new body worn cameras which frontline personnel have described as the 'most important and invaluable' adaption to their personnel protective equipment in recent years.
Gardaí have received a report on the pilot phase and will begin the process of rolling out the body worn cameras across the organisation by the end of this year.
Mr Harris said that anecdotally there has been evidence of them reducing threats to frontline members while also acting as an investigative tool.
'I think it makes a difference in terms of just taking the temperature out of a situation when people are told that a camera is on, and those who have any sense at all realise their actions are being recorded, but some don't,' she said.
'And then this is very useful evidence, very appropriate evidence then, to bring before the courts. It gives the unvarnished, unalloyed description and representation of their behaviour at the scene.
'So that does make a difference. And we believe that it's really significant for us in terms of just speeding up criminal justice cases, but also helping on the ground and on the street-based situations.'
A significant change has been the rollout of the operating model which has moved from localised focus at district level to larger autonomous divisions.
Mr Harris rejected collective criticism of the model from policing representative bodies, and said they don't speak about the successes delivered under it.
He said this included each division having a Detective Superintendent to oversee serious criminal investigations and Divisional Protective Services Unit to investigate sexual offences and domestic violence, as well as increasing the number of garda staff to free up attested garda members.