Cork city losing gardaí every year, says TD

A total of 214 Cork gardaí retired or resigned since 2020, while just 180 probationer gardaí have been assigned during the same period, leaving a shortfall in numbers.

Data provided to justice minister Jim O’Callaghan outlines the number of gardaí in Cork city and county divisions who have resigned or retired, including voluntary, compulsory, cost neutral early retirements, and ordinary resignations, in each of the past six years.

In 2020, 16 members left the force; 37 in 2021; 52 in 2022; 42 in 2023; 37 in 2024, and 29 so far this year.

Data compiled by An Garda Síochána shows that as of the end of August 2025 there were 1,280 gardaí stationed in Cork, split between 663 in the city and 617 in the county.

The cumulative figure is down by 96, or 7%, from the end of 2019, when there were 730 gardaí in the city and 637 in the county.

Dropped

This means that since the turn of the decade, garda numbers have dropped by 9% in the city and 3% in the county.

Mr O’Callaghan said that significant measures have been taken in an effort to boost garda recruitment in recent years.

These include “increasing the garda trainee allowance; increasing the age of entry from 35 to 50, and the mandatory retirement age to 62”.

“So far this year 571 Garda trainees have entered Templemore, and one more intake will enter in November of this year,” he said.

Mr O’Callaghan said that sine 2020, 180 probationer gardaí have been assigned to Cork divisions.

This is 34 fewer than the number of gardaí in Cork leaving the force.

However, Cork’s garda numbers have decreased by 96, suggesting that more than 60 gardaí have also been transferred from Cork to elsewhere in the county, or were promoted during this period.

Cork was allocated 25 new gardaí at the latest graduation from the garda training college in Templemore, with 20 of those going to the city’s force, and five to the county.

Allocated

Mr O’Callaghan said that this garda attestation took place on August, 22 and that since probationer gardaí remain allocated to the Garda College for one week following attestation are not yet included in the workforce data for August.

However, even the 25 new members will still bring Cork’s total amount of garda figures to fewer than it was at the start of 2020.

In the same time period, Dublin has seen their amount of garda members grow from 3,808 to 3,910, an increase of 102.

Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central, Thomas Gould, said: “Cork city’s garda force is reducing every single year. We are losing gardaí and they are not being replaced.

“Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are so busy putting out fires that they can’t see the danger ahead.

They became so focused on assigning gardaí to Dublin following serious reports there that they can’t see that Cork city is at risk now.”