Pizza in 30 mins Garda in ????

Ricardo G

The majority of gardai are lazy and unhelpful imo. Any dealings i have had with them left me fuming afterwards !! Granted they deal with a lot of crap but this "higher than thou" and " i'll help if i feel like it" attitude towards the general public is not acceptable, if i were to deal with people with the same attitude in my proffession i'd have been sacked a long time ago.

df1985

not just guards, ambulances are very slow these days too. over half an hour when I had to call one last year. Im in leixlip, not exactly the back end of nowhere.

Dangerous Man

Alan Shatter has said it will be three-and-a-half years before new recruits leave Templemore. I find this distressing; I know that the current financial strain is not this government's fault but personally speaking, policing shouldn't have to endure these types of cuts. I am no fan of an Gardai Siochana - I've never felt that they do a good job but I also don't want to see the service they provide, regardless of how poor it is, undermined further.

Now, don't get me wrong - I'm not naive - there isn't money there but I can't help but feel that there was little attempt made to actually prevent this course of action by saving the money elsewhere.

How much does it cost to run Templemore and train a recruit over his two-year course?
How many recruits does Templemore graduate each year?
How many Gardai will retire in those three-and-a-half years?

The government needs to take a look at all non-essential expenditures - such as giving grants to sporting bodies / tax exemptions for the racing industry / and I hate to say - arts funding - and try to make real savings that prevent the closure of Templemore.

It's time to get serious about priorities.

Mark Hamill

Fozzie Bear wrote: »

Christ above, enough people. Probably one/two active patrol cars and a few Gardai to cover an area possibly several hundred square miles in size and you are bitching because they don't turn up as quickly as a Pizza order? Seriously get a grip and some perspective FFS.

This sort of thing doesn't just happen in the country side though. My brother lived in tallaght about 7 or 8 years years ago (ie before the cutbacks) and people used to climb over his wall and try to break into his house all the time and the guards would take 1 or 2 hours to get their when he called them. At around the same time, people would call the guards on teens drinking in my area (churchtown/dundrum) and they would be there in 5 minutes to confiscate the booze (once, one car pulled up with 4 guards in it, about ten minutes after the kids first got there).

SparKing

Fozzie Bear, you couldn't be more wrong and I'm inclined to believe that anyone who defends An Gárda Síochána has a vested interest.
I am 27 years old:
I called them once because a guy was chasing another guy around my street with a knife, they wanted to know my name, I told them I preferred to remain anonymous, they never came.

A guy tipped my brothers car with his car with me, my brother and his pregnant girlfriend in it, he didn't stop, so we chased him, got his registration, a description of the guy and the car, rang AGS and told them where we were, about 1km from the copshop, and that the guy had mistakenly pulled into a Cul de Sac, we didn't block him in for fear he would ram us, AGS never showed, they met us at our house later and we gave them all the details, never heard a thing back. The brother was understandably upset, he spoke to a lad he knew on the building site who has 2 brothers who are Gardaí, got the guys address and found out he was an American guy who had had previous complaints for similar, the brother drove to the guys house and saw the car, damaged, but left it at that.

My motorbike was stolen from outside my house, rang them again, told them the story, "are ye coming out?" I asked, "No" they replied, "would ye not check the CCTV in the shop directly across from my house?" Says I, "oh, ok so" they replied. So they arrive up, have a quick look and say there's nothing they can do, fair enough, I thought. I put my unfortunate tale on facebook and had my bike back in an hour. I rang the Gardaí as a courtesy, "oh that's great, where was it?" And I got a letter in the post about 6 weeks later to let me know they were sorry to hear I had been the victim of a crime and to let me know who was handling my "case".

I was asked to do a small job for a Garda friend about 10km from where the station was and well outside the city where he is based, he picks me up in a squad car while on duty and drives to his house with the sirens blaring, did the job, got back into the car sirens all the way back in, great craic altogether.

I worked in a hotel and a few Gardaí used to arrive in around closing time at the weekends to have a big feed of sandwiches, tea, and the odd pint all at a time when I imagine the most violence occurs on the street.

The Police service is useless precisely because the Gardaí themselves are lazy, self-serving, corrupt and many other things that they get away with because the Public service is a bloated overpaid bureaucracy with no will to change. You can be sure if Pádraig Nally thought the man he killed would have been brought to justice by the Gardaí he wouldn't have taken the law into his own hands.

Fozzie Bear being a Garda in Ireland isn't especially dangerous anyway, but because of our useless police force neither is being a criminal.

Also Usernameinuse, with regard to privatisation all I could think of is OCP from the Robocop movies.

jme2010

Deleted User wrote: »

an argument between a small guy and a big muscled guy in MMA shorts.

Why didn't you record it and upload to youtube. I love those "Guy gets KTFO" clips.

jme2010

jme2010 wrote: »

Why didn't you record it and upload to youtube. I love those "Guy gets KTFO" clips.

It is recorded but with an iphone and so it looks like dots fighting. Dont really want to put it out there though .

dsmythy

Deleted User wrote: »

It is recorded but with an iphone and so it looks like dots fighting. Dont really want to put it out there though .

You don't get in the way of two dots fighting, trust me on that.

Merch

Mr. Presentable wrote: »

You can't blame the Gardai. They are under-resourced and have to prioritise calls. The way to get them onsite is to escalate your emergency - tell them there's a sword/shotgun/doughnuts involved.

You elected the govt which has cut policing. There will be no more new Gardai for at least two years, and during this time many will leave the force.

You wanted cuts in Public Service spending. This is one of the results.

OP, get on to your local TD.

There seems to be plenty of gards hanging around a petrol station near where I live. I cant imagine them being efficient in the use of funds, cuts doesnt mean a worse service, cut the waste maybe.

mikemac

There was a jeep burned out in our estate last week, getwaway vehicle for a murder. Made national news
They've been all over the estate knocking on every door looking for statements and CCTV. And when they finished they came back a second time in case they missed anyone, close to 200 homes to be checked.

Murder is taken seriously anyway, especially with the Continuity IRA connection, I'd imagine special branch are involved

On the other side, I've been involved in low level stuff. An assualt in Galway and zero followup and this was a seargant, not someone inexperienced.
And three separate incidents with the local scum trying to steal my motorcycle. If there is a fourth incident I wouldn't bother them such was the level of disinterest I got

Feeona

Merch wrote: »

There seems to be plenty of gards hanging around a petrol station near where I live.

Are gardaí not allowed to congregrate in areas where other people might see them? Did you ever ask these gardaí at your local station if they were on their lunch break, or getting petrol? I can personally think of several places I'd rather be if I were dossing off work, and a petrol station isn't one of them!

Merch

No, I dont think they should be congregating in one area, first they should not all need to take their break or get petrol, at the same time,

any time I saw them there there were anywhere between 3-5 cars,they were not getting petrol. All having coffee, standing around yaking.
I'm sure they would prefer to congregate there than the station.

In all my time i have only ever called the gardai 3 times, once i made it to where the problem was before they did, other times they either were unwilling to assist or didnt turn up for ages.

Ask them if they are on their lunch break, and what then? they take my car reg at best then what?? what do you think?

Except when there was a robbery of a bank! once they were all over the place like flies on shyte, I said i saw nothing but really when they cant be arsed to turn up at events that affect ordinary people, what hope do they think they will be helped by the community, he said ahh you should always call if you need the help of the gardai (I think he thought i had some info) So they turn up for a bank job (expected) but for almost nothing else!

the groutch

OP, you should have ended your call with "and if you're not here in 5 minutes, I'll take car of it myself with my machette". I can guarantee you they would have been there in 3

mcmoustache

the groutch wrote: »

OP, you should have ended your call with "and if you're not here in 5 minutes, I'll take car of it myself with my machette". I can guarantee you they would have been there in 3

"I swung my hurley in the dark and hit the burglar in the head. I'm not sure if he's alive because he's not moving."

WealthyB

I was attacked by 4 scummers up on Aungier St. around 1am one night for my phone (never walk and text at night kids), I had blood streaming down my face from two cuts over each eye... 2 Algerian lads chased them off from kicking me on the ground and helped me up immediately after, fair play to them, and grabbed some tissues from the local kebab shop.

A squad car came down the road literally 2 minutes after all of this, I stood at the side of the road and tried flag them down... They slowed down enough to have a good look at me and decide my injuries weren't life threatening, and then sped up and away from me. Had they only stopped, I could have pointed out the 4 scummers, as I could still see them walking up Camden Street.

That was a serious wake up call for me and made me realise you can't rely on the Gardai in this country.

ascanbe

Wait a minute...These people were fighting for over two hours?! That's impressive.

Dangerous Man

Here's another story about the Gardai's incompetence.

I was on Harcourt street a few years ago waiting for the Luas. I was with a group of girls that I met at a gig and was seeing off the one that I stuck the face on at the concert.
Anyway, this scummer comes up to the girls and they quickly turn their back on him and move towards me. I tell the guy to 'piss off' - he looked a bit rough but I wasn't intimidated by him. He was carrying a few cans of beer in a plastic bag, threatening to swing them at me. Then this big huge guy just walked straight up to the skanger and screamed 'get the fuck out of here you little knacker' right in his face. He immediately backed off. We walked after him a bit to make sure he stayed away. He shouted back at us, 'I'll get my mates.'
We thought nothing of that and went back to the Luas stop. Then we heard a bit of a commotion coming from behind us. Lo and behold, the skanger was good to his word and more than ten scummers were legging it up the street after us.
Thankfully, the Luas was coming behind them and while we were engulfed by them at the stop we managed to literally punch our way through onto the train. None of them followed.
When I got home I told my sister and her boyfriend what happened (they saw I was bleeding from my mouth.)
What my sister's boyfriend then said shocked me: 'the exact same thing happened to me right on Harcourt street two months before.' It was probably the same guys who went after him - it even happened the same way. One guy went up to him to start something and then a gang of scumbags chased him down the street.
The thing is, he ran into the Garda station right there on Harcourt street and explained to the desk sergeant that there was a group of nutters outside who were trying to kill him.

He told him to get out of the station and stop wasting his time.

Sonnenblumen

Dangerous Man wrote: »

Alan Shatter has said it will be three-and-a-half years before new recruits leave Templemore. I find this distressing; I know that the current financial strain is not this government's fault but personally speaking, policing shouldn't have to endure these types of cuts. I am no fan of an Gardai Siochana - I've never felt that they do a good job but I also don't want to see the service they provide, regardless of how poor it is, undermined further.

Now, don't get me wrong - I'm not naive - there isn't money there but I can't help but feel that there was little attempt made to actually prevent this course of action by saving the money elsewhere.

How much does it cost to run Templemore and train a recruit over his two-year course?
How many recruits does Templemore graduate each year?
How many Gardai will retire in those three-and-a-half years?

The government needs to take a look at all non-essential expenditures - such as giving grants to sporting bodies / tax exemptions for the racing industry / and I hate to say - arts funding - and try to make real savings that prevent the closure of Templemore.

It's time to get serious about priorities.

What's with all the questions, training to be a detective?:D

Dangerous Man

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

What's with all the questions, training to be a detective?:D

...just one more thing.

Matt Bauer

They are probably busy writing parking tickets. I wish I was kidding as well.

carwash106

Fozzie Bear wrote: »

Christ above, enough people. Probably one/two active patrol cars and a few Gardai to cover an area possibly several hundred square miles in size and you are bitching because they don't turn up as quickly as a Pizza order? Seriously get a grip and some perspective FFS. Whats more likely? They were answering one of many many other calls that night or they were just sitting in Supermacs having a burger and ignoring the radio?

There never seems be an end to people coming on here bitching and moaning about how poor the Gardai are. How many times have any of you seen a thread praising them for the countless daily, no hourly occasions when they do good, solve a crime, save a life or put their own well being on the line in the course of their duty.

Only yesterday two Gardai received the Scott Medal for bravery in facing down five armed individuals in the course of a Tiger raid in Galway.

That's one male and one female Garda taking on 5 armed men. Where was the thread about that one? Where were the other contributors posts on that thread saying how well the Gardai performed or stories of where they helped out or went above and beyond? No its easier to disregard and forget about those incidents. But when they fail to live up to our expectations or don't do things as we think they should be done (regardless if its the correct way or not) then its time to hit AH and start yet another Garda bashing thread.

They deal with the sort of situations and scumbags every hour of every day, nationwide, the majority of us would run a mile from. They are undoubtedly under manned and resourced, up until recently lacking in the most basic equipment (remember the radio system that could be hacked by a 12 year old?) and are unarmed. They are hospitalised, beaten, attacked verbally and physically and they are murdered all while standing between you, me, Joe public and the sort of fu@ks who would not think twice about sticking a pint glass in your face for looking sideways at them in a pub.

And yet we still feel obliged to have a go at them? Christ above.....

You're right, there is too much stories about how inadequate they are in this thread, but then again it is a thread precisely about that topic so most people who post here will only have bad stories.

Most Gardai I'm confidant would love to catch criminals in the act and be able to respond to each and every call out but as pointed out they are under manned and under resourced.

In regards to nabbing those 5 involved in that tiger raid, is it just me or am I hearing about a lot more tiger kidnappers and post office armed robbers being chased down and caught or at least caught afterwards. I know some get away but a lot recently have been caught.

Some of the posters here have a legitimate complain abotu a minority of the Gardai who look and act like they don't care sometimes, and look as if they are not interested in the crime being reported, I would like to think this is the small amoutn of Gardai, and in those cases just the Gartdai having an off day and not their usual behaviour( if it is it should be corrected)

From my small experience with the Gardai they were good. Used to live in Galway city and outside a drunken man stopped his car in the street and started chasing his wife around the car shouting with a tire iron( not sure if he hit her or not), us two blokes ran outside, man saw us,drunkingly threatened to shoot us and got in his car and drove off, anyway we called the Gardai who arrive literally 5 minutes later in a big hurry.

As one of us were driving up the road 20 minutes later, we saw that they caught up to the guy, who will at least be done for speeding if his wife doesnt press charges.

They were professional and attentive that night. but i never heard anythign since about the incident

Bosco boy

Matt Bauer wrote: »

They are probably busy writing parking tickets. I wish I was kidding as well.

How original! Did it take you long to think that one up?

SparKing

I like to think I am reasonable and as a reasonable person I expect a reasonable response to crimes being committed, such as: showing up to the scene of a crime, treating people with respect and courtesy rather than indifference when they have been the victim of a crime, making sure that known criminals are being monitored or locked up to prevent people from being murdered (Manuel Riedo springs to mind).

Ask yourself the question, who decides to become a Garda?
People who want to uphold the law and protect the public.
People who covet a bit of power.
People whose family have been Gardaí.
People who want a nice soft job (for the most part, I'm sure most would agree), from which you can retire after 30 years of service with a nice pension.
I know a few Gardaí, lovely guys and girls, but most of them seem to fit into the latter descriptions rather than the first.

amacachi

Fight involving about a dozen people outside my house on NYE 2009/2010 eventually involving machetes. We called the local station twice and at least 2 other people on the street did as well and no-one bothered to come down. Then again from what I heard from someone in the Gardaí at the time I doubt too many got a response that night.

ascanbe

amacachi wrote: »

Fight involving about a dozen people outside my house on NYE 2009/2010 eventually involving machetes. We called the local station twice and at least 2 other people on the street did as well and no-one bothered to come down. Then again from what I heard from someone in the Gardaí at the time I doubt too many got a response that night.

I don't blame them, to be honest..

starviewadams

If you want an ambulance say someones having a heart attack.
If you want the Gardai say that somebody has a gun.
If you want a Nurse go to Coppers.

That's what my cousin,who's a fireman in the DFB,told me.

amacachi

ascanbe wrote: »

I don't blame them, to be honest..

If they were a volunteer and unpaid force I'd completely agree.

ascanbe

amacachi wrote: »

If they were a volunteer and unpaid force I'd completely agree.

Well, if i was a guard, you'd have to pay me a lot more than they're currently paid to convince me to wade into a fight that involved machetes, armed only with my trusty baton.
You'd need a properly armed unit to be deployed to make a difference there.
It would be different if it was a case of someone with a lethal weapon attacking innocent people; if there are people intent on fighting each other armed with machetes, though, i wouldn't blame any gardai on call from giving it a wide berth until the dust had settled.

Thoie

For a bit of balance:

Good: My friends interrupted their car being broken into the other night. Gardaí were on the scene within minutes.

Good: I was attacked one night - gardaí arrived before I even knew what was going on.

OK: I was alone in a place with CCTV one night when the place was broken into. Took them about 20 minutes to turn up, but when they did they just wanted a quick glance at the recording to confirm the guy they'd picked up 10 minutes earlier was the right person. Now, they could have saved me a thousand tiny heart attacks during that 10 minutes if they'd let me know what they were doing, but it turned out OK.

Bad: Rang them to tell them someone had broken into the house next door and was still there. Was told they were all at a 40th, and it'd be at least an hour before anyone was free.

It's really just the luck of the draw.

Kinky Slinky

I remember one of my friends got hit and got his nose broken , and I had to go in and make a statement to the gardr station. I must of gone in three times before I actually met the Garda who I was supposed to meet(Usual bullshit excuses for her not being there even though she scheduled to meet me). I go in anyway go up to the counter and say I'm looking for X , the guard calls back to X and says "there's someone here to meet you blah blah blah". I could see her in the back chatting away having a laugh. I must of been there half an hour waiting for her while she was having a chat. She finally arrives out(thick as fuck). She says to me " you look a lot better than you did the lastnight ". I'm thinking to myself what the hell is she raving on about, turns out she was "supposed" to be meeting someone else at this time.

Saying that I've had positive experience with the gardaí . These kids kept ringing our doorbell at night, we ending up calling the guards because we were sick of the shit , like they literally had to jump over a 4ft wall and run up a 35m driveway (this is out in the country). Called the guards , the landed out in about 15 minutes which is a fairly quick response because we're about 15 minutes from town. Haven't really had any problems since.