International Security Guard Day: Meet some of those on duty in Cork and Dublin

Irish Examiner

4 days ago

When she started out in security, Valentina Dimkovska could hardly have imagined she'd one day be standing at the doors of one of Dublin's most famous nightclubs. Originally from North Macedonia, Valentina arrived in Ireland after several years as a logistics specialist with the US Army.
'I started in 1999 and it was just something to pay the bills,' says the 51-year-old.
Valentina Dimkovska, Door Supervisor, Dicey's Garden
'It was exciting and it looked like a challenge. During my time with the US Army, I spent four years in Kabul. From the very first day until now I have never thought of changing. I'm happy in security.'
Kabul is a far cry from Dicey's Garden where she now works as door supervisor. But according to Valentina, it is not without its challenges: 'Every night is different. It's never boring. We meet a lot of nice people every night. We try our best to let everybody inside and have fun. Still, sometimes we have a reason to refuse people and it's usually too much alcohol or drugs. If there's aggression there's zero tolerance on that.'
'We get quite an international crowd; lots of people from Spain, France and Brazil. We don't get a lot of trouble from them, and don't get me wrong here, but most of the problems come from locals. You get people telling you to go back to your country, that sort of thing. The only way you stop it is through talking. For it to escalate, the situation needs to get very bad, if somebody attacks you or pushes you. Thankfully that's quite rare.'
When she joined the team at Dicey's Garden more than 10 years ago, Valentina was its first female member. More women have since joined her and the team now boasts three female bouncers out of a total of 40. In her 26 years in the industry, she has noticed a change and she says that women are 'slowly becoming more interested' in working in security.
'The hours really suit me,' she says.
'I can work at night, make some money and during the day look after my family. I'm not going to recommend what I do to every woman. But I have worked in corporate security and you can see more women in that sector. That is very different work.'
Corporate security
After six years working between the Four Courts and Central Criminal Court, Kasia Aziewicz made the switch to corporate security in 2015. Having started as a security officer, she progressed rapidly to her current role as a site security manager for a major international company.
Kasia Aziewicz, Women in Security Liaison ASIS Ireland Chapter
'This side of the industry is about security but also customer service,' says the Polish native.
'And since I started in it we have definitely seen more women come in. It's more open and it's great to see.'
Besides looking after the security of thousands of people in her day job, Kasia is the Women in Security Liaison for the Irish chapter of ASIS International, a global security network and community of 36,000 members that connects people in the industry.
'My role with ASIS is to showcase stories of women in security through our Women in Security Podcast as well as through meetups and networking events,' she explains.
'There are more women in security but they are still a little hidden so it's important that they are seen, that they see each other and speak to each other because people don't realise what goes on behind the scenes. It's a way of maybe attracting more women into the industry and showing them there are different roles. There are more opportunities there now for women. I think that's down to the fact that there are more roles and different options now around the likes of events, training and analysis which uses a lot of tech.'
Behind the scenes security
Ciara Doyle is one of those women in security who works behind the scenes. In her role as a Specialised Intelligence Analyst for a large international company, she is responsible for the safety of thousands of employees across the globe.
Ciara Doyle, Specialised Intelligence Analyst, Provincial
Though she is based in Dublin, it is her job to monitor events in every corner of the world where her client's employees might be. She needs to be aware of all sorts of safety risks from political upheaval and military coups to acts of God and local protests.
'Something might happen in a city where we have an office or they might be attending a conference or simply a meeting and we know we have certain numbers of people there who need to be kept up to date on developments,' says the 27-year-old.
'That information can be time-sensitive. So you have to be a clear thinker and be able to respond under pressure. You're pulling multiple sources of data and trying to collate that to give them an accurate reflection of what's happened and how it can impact the business and its people.' Having studied History and Politics at Maynooth University, Ciara went on to do a Master's Degree in International Law before joining a public relations and media analytics firm where she started her training as an analyst. After a year, an opportunity with her current employer, Provincial, came to her attention.
'The role was similar but what intrigued me was it seemed to be more aligned to what I was interested in,' says the Dubliner.
'I love it and I have such great support from my management. 'They're very progressive. Even in the three years that I've been with them, they've brought in more benefits and support, particularly around maternity which is great to see. So I feel now that I can have a family and still have a career in security. Ten or 20 years ago that would have been unheard of.'
Event security
'In our world, you deal with all sorts of different people and behaviours,' says Jess O'Sullivan, managing director of AOS Security.
Jess O'Sullivan of AOS Security. Picture: Larry Cummins
'Women bring a different dynamic to a team. When we come across a conflict situation, if a female is involved or is present she will rarely get lashed out at and the situation tends to get diffused more quickly. So they often take a different approach and of course, as I always say, they can multitask.'
Jess and her late husband, Alan, started AOS Security more than 28 years ago providing security for pubs and clubs around Cork. Since then, the company has grown significantly and today looks after some of the city's most famous landmarks including Páirc Uí Chaoimh. When it comes to women in security, Jess believes it depends on the sector.
'In the guarding side of it, in pubs and nightclubs, you wouldn't have as many women as men still,' she says.
'But on the events side of it, there are more and there are some very talented women out there working in events. I think there are lots of opportunities for women and they can progress within the industry. I always encourage them. Even this year, when we were doing our recruitment drive, the applications that came in were 60% from men and 40% from women. So there's more interest there and it's great to see.'