Garda boost for city as 36 new recruits on way to Cork

Cork is set to receive the city’s largest allocation of gardaí in quarter of a century, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has confirmed to The Echo.

The Cork City garda division looks set to be allocated 36 new garda recruits in this morning’s attestation ceremony at the Garda Training College in Templemore, Mr Martin said.

While graduate allocation figures always carry the caveat that they are not finalised until they are announced at the graduation ceremony, garda sources have said today’s allocation of graduates to the city is very likely to be in the region of 36.

Those sources have added that today’s allocation of recruits is expected to be augmented by as many as 15 transfers to the city division.

It is believed that all of the new gardaí assigned to the city will be stationed initially to Anglesea Street, before some will be moved to the suburbs.

The allocation follows August’s graduation ceremony, which saw 20 new recruits – known in An Garda Síochána as ‘probationers’ – assigned to the city.

Mr Martin – who will be the keynote speaker at this morning’s graduation ceremony – said the latest allocation, on top of August’s, would significantly enhance garda visibility on the city’s streets.

“This will help enormously, and the good news is that more and more people are applying to An Garda Síochána, and it is our intention to continue increasing garda numbers,” Mr Martin said.

High-visibility policing has been a stated priority of new garda commissioner Justin Kelly, who succeeded Drew Harris at the start of September.

News of the latest Cork city allocation comes as data from An Garda Síochána, published last month by this newspaper, showed that garda numbers in Cork were down since the turn of the decade by 9% in the city and by 3% in the county.

As of the end of August 2025, were 1,280 gardaí stationed in Cork, with 663 in the city and 617 in the county.

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

The issue of garda resources has long been contentious in the city, and the announcement, earlier in the year, of the amalgamation of city subdivisions Douglas and Carrigaline, and Bishopstown and Ballincollig, proved extremely controversial.

Labour Party city councillor Peter Horgan said it was very welcome that the first significant allocation under the new garda commissioner prioritised Cork city.

“This segues with the desire from Cork City Council as a whole to highlight the city centre as a safe place to visit and do business in.

“We must ensure these gardaí are visible on our streets and not bound up in the courts and administration, I would be cautious in terms of what numbers will come to the southside as we still have issues relating to the personnel supporting major conurbations like Douglas, Togher and Carrigaline,” Mr Horgan said.

Séamus McGrath, Fianna Fáil TD for Cork South Central, said the city had been under-resourced for years and a significant correction had been needed.

“I’m pleased we are now receiving higher numbers of new gardaí and this is an approach we need to continue so we can ensure high visibility policing and better opening hours in our garda stations,” he said.

Meanwhile, the topic of garda resources for Cork was raised at the latest meeting of the Joint Committee on Justice this week, with Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly saying that a high-visibility policing initiative is planned for Cork soon.

Mr Kelly told committee members: “The public and business community have already seen the benefits of our Dublin city centre high-visibility policing initiative,” adding that there have been increased detections of anti-social behaviour, drunkenness and drugs for sale or supply, as well as decreases in theft, robbery begging and assaults in the capital as a result.

“We will be replicating this initiative in our cities and major urban centres around the country. Cork will be next. It is resource-intensive so when we introduce high visibility, it must be sustainable. This is not for a weekend or a particular time of the year; it is all year around.”