Tattoos and the Gardai

Did the candidates not read the booklets sent to them?

Plenty of people have been sent home or held back in order to make physical changes, why should having a tatoo be different?

Plenty of Gardai have tattoos, they just adhere to the rules.

I really don’t understand how this guy got to attend his first week in Templemore without someone picking up on the tattoo - as he says himself it was an 18 month long process to get there- the regulations, whether you like them or not, are actually incomplete.

Technically , as long as he covers up that tattoo hes actually in keeping with the letter of the code- however from a practical perspective how the hell did he think that he’d get away with wearing a bandage on his hand for the next 30+ years?

I have pity on him to a degree - but I think he should have raised this himself a lot earlier and also there should have been a conversation anyway or mentioned at an interview where this tattoo, given it’s so obvious, would become a potential stumbling block.

The story of why he got it is lovely - but not everyone is going to give him the chance to tell that story and will judge him quickly - I think it was a stupid place to put that tattoo in fairness and I think he knows that now.

And going public and doing interviews with a newspaper has now most likely ruined his chances of a Garda career - whilst he may have decided not to progress today, he may yet regret that decision

Visible to others tattoos. Hands face neck.

anywhere else I could care less.

tattoo yer todger for all I care, once you are face to face with a client, no tattoos allowed to be seen. It’s pretty simple actually.

if you want to tattoo your hands, face and/or neck, good for you, but that has consequences with me and my business.

Alright fair enough you’ve clarified that

very poor comparison. People have no control over Birth marks…they willingly and deliberately decide to ‘beautify / destroy’ their skin with ink/tats.

Zoom interviews

What’s disgusting is your post about birthmarks

Yeah, but we don't know what was said to the candidates at any stage, it could have been pointed out plenty of times and they all had booklets explaining regulations to them. Seems like they just chanced their arms for as long as they could.

No matter what anyone thinks about Gardai with tattoos, the fact that the candidates cannot adhere to the rules before they have even started their jobs doesn't say much about their attitudes. There are plenty of fights they can have about different issues within the force, once they're in, but they want to fight before they even get out to a station.

And it doesn't bother me in the slightest if Gardai have tattoos

The current guidelines are just stupid to begin with. You can’t “cover up” a tattoo on your arm when in short sleeves uniform - even if they are more specific you’re then into what sort of tattoos are allowed and which aren’t- a touchy subject.

Face hand head and neck tattoos for starters are probably out completely - but that still leaves arm tattoos

They have not removed the long sleeve shirt.

This is one of the results of online interviews and interview panels with no actual gardai on the panel just civil servants. most of the time these people think they know who would make a good candidate but in reality have no idea

it has been resulting in f ups like this. as well as many more unsuitable candidates than in the past. adds to the lower standards of members and the retention issues as people realize after a while that they are unsuitable themselves so they leave or get sacked and this heaps more work and pressures on the existing members.

it is only the tip of the iceberg that is being reported with regard to resignations and retention. approximately a 3rd of serving members i know are considering leaving at the minute , there was a article recently saying that there are more than 300 gardai in my county, i counted the other night and could come up with 200 max actual available frontline bodies

as for the tattoos. ? not really a issue , i know many fine Gardai with lots of body art , doesn't effect their abilities and in many cases enhances their rapport building. Hands and face tats are probably not a good idea because what helps you to talk to one person will scare intimidate or just make another feel uncomfortable and you have to be able to talk to as many people as possible