Entry Requirements
Candidates to join the Service must be between 18 and 26 years of age, be not less the 175cms tall in the case of men and 165cms in the case of women, be in good mental and bodily health and be of good character.  Certain minimum standards of education are specified.

Training
Basic training is divided into five phases and lasts a total of three years.  Initially, students spend 22 weeks at the College, followed by a period of 24 weeks spent at selected stations under the direct supervision of tutorial staff. After further training at the College, students become members of the Service, empowered to enforce legislation the same as senior colleagues and are attached to stations, although remaining under probation for a further two year period.

Considerable emphasis is placed on the integration of theory and practice throughout basic training.
Subjects include Law, Social Science, Theory of
Policing, Communications, the Irish Language, and
Physical Training.

The Garda College also caters for a wide range of In-Service Training activities, dealing with all ranks up to the level of Senior Officer.

This is a List of various sections and units
within An Garda Síochána.

Press Office
The Office operates all year round, providing a comprehensive service to journalists, media students and the public. As the number of media outlets continue to grow, so too do the various requests for information and assistance, which the office handles.

On an average day, staff at the Garda Press &
Public Relations Office deal with up to 200 enquiries
ranging from calls for information on crime, traffic accidents and incidents, missing persons and requests for spokespersons or statements on items of national and local interest.

The Band of An Garda Siochana
The Band consists of thirty full time professional
Musicians and performs many concerts throughout
the country (during 1998 they appeared on 193 occassions).

Ballistics section
This section provides technical assistance to the
Garda Síochána in matters relating to firearms,
ammunition, and explosives.

Fingerprint Section
The Garda Fingerprint section are based in the
Technical Bureau at Garda Headquarters and provide a
Fingerprint identification system for the Garda Siochana using An Automatic Fingerprint Identification system ( AFIS ) which was installed in 1995.

Photographic Section
The Photographic Section provides a secure, independent
photographic service tailored to the needs of An Garda Síochána and the courts. This includes assisting photographically in the investigation of crime and providing both evidential and illustrated photographs to assist investigators
and to provide albums of photographs to assist the courts.

Garda Mapping Section
The mapping section provides a comprehensive
Mapping service for the Garda Service which includes the
surveying and preparing of scaled drawings and maps of serious crime and accident scenes.

Document Section
Tasks carried out include the comparison of handwriting and signatures to establish authorship, determining whether entries have been altered, added or removed from documents and examination of documents for evidence of indentations by means of Electrostatic Detection Apparatus. Documents, including official documents, are also examined to determine their authenticity.  During 1998 dealt with 664 cases.

Garda Water Unit
The principal duties of the unit involve underwater searches for evidence in crime investigation, security searches and searches for missing persons feared drowned.

Garda National Drug Unit
The primary function of the unit is to target major drug
traffickers as well as monitoring, controlling and evaluating all drug intelligence and policies within An Garda Siochana.

Garda National Traffic Bureau
The National Traffic Bureau is responsible for the implementation of policy in relation to Traffic law enforcement throughout the country.  The section has also responsibility for road death and road injury statistics, enforcement of drink
driving laws, and administration of the Traffic Corps

Garda Bureau Of Fraud Investigation
Its' role is investigation of Fraud on a national
basis and to deal with the more complex cases throughout
the state.  The Bureau carries out its function through the following units:

• Assessment
• Commercial Fraud Units
• Cheque/Credit Card Units
• Computer - Crime unit
• Money Laundering Investigation Unit

Garda Community Relations Section
This section has the responsibility for formulating,
implementing and evaluating all crime prevention programmes and measures utilised by An Garda Síochána. The section comprises:

• National Juvenile Office
• Garda Juvenile Diversion Programme
• Garda Schools Programme
• Crime Prevention
• Crimeline

National Bureau of Criminal Investigation
The National Bureau of Criminal Investigation
(NBCI), have national responsibility for:

• Serious crime investigation
• The Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Investigation Unit
• The Anti Racketeering Unit
• The Arts and Antiques Unit
• The Stolen Vehicle Unit
• Computer Component Theft Unit

For further information contact your local Garda Station or
e-mail: gpresoff@iol.ie

An Garda Síochána Web Site is also full of useful information
Web Site Address: www.irlgov.ie/garda/