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Unarmed Police: Myths, Rights and Realities

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Policing & Firearms

Abstract

Ireland is oft held aloft as one of the few examples of a Western police service that is unarmed. In this chapter we examine the realities of gun use among the Irish police, An Garda Síochána (Irish for ‘Guardians of the Peace’). We start by looking at the historic decisions to ‘disarm’ the gardaí and explore the extent to which this label can be accurately applied to the Irish police. Looking at current figures around use of force, we argue that the concept of the unarmed police in Ireland is more mythical than real. We then move to examine the consequences of that myth: that there has been a lack of transparency, oversight, professionalism and accountability for gun use by police in Ireland. We explore this primarily through a human rights lens, arguing that by clinging to the ‘unarmed’ myth, Ireland is not living up to its human rights obligations. Finally, we explore what the Irish experience of being ‘unarmed’ can tell us for the broader question of whether police should routinely carry guns.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The word for referring to a singular member of the organisation is garda, and gardaí is the plural. We use AGS to refer to the organisation as a whole.

  2. 2.

    Others, such as in England and Wales, are considered routinely unarmed.

  3. 3.

    Others have died and been killed in other circumstances, primarily in road traffic collisions, but just those involving weapons (all of which were firearms) are mentioned here.

  4. 4.

    Created in 1822

  5. 5.

    A police force was initially instituted in Dublin in 1786, and in 1836 Metropolitan Police were created in Dublin, Belfast and Derry.

  6. 6.

    The Irish Civil War took place between June 1922 and May 1923.

  7. 7.

    The Civic Guard was renamed AGS in 1925.

  8. 8.

    The original IRA fought the War of Independence against the British from 1919 to 1921. The organisation morphed and changed over the following decades.

  9. 9.

    In 1977, on the back of an European Economic Community (EEC) requirement, a Special Task Force was created for responding to terrorism incidents, and received enhanced firearms training.

  10. 10.

    The body which conducts inspections on garda practices and procedures, with the aim of ensuring that the resources in AGS are used effectively and efficiently

  11. 11.

    Sixteen others have died on duty, 14 in road traffic collisions.

  12. 12.

    There were 2 years for which this data is missing.

  13. 13.

    The ECHR has been incorporated into Irish law through the European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003.

  14. 14.

    Through a search conducted for this piece at www.oireachtas.ie

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland

    Vicky Conway

  2. Irish Council for Civil Liberties, Dublin, Ireland

    Doireann Ansbro

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  1. Vicky Conway
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  2. Doireann Ansbro
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Correspondence to Doireann Ansbro .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia

    Clare Farmer

  2. Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia

    Richard Evans

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Conway, V., Ansbro, D. (2023). Unarmed Police: Myths, Rights and Realities. In: Farmer, C., Evans, R. (eds) Policing & Firearms. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13013-7_2

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