Garda Reserve Experiences

Raider190 wrote: »

You really think I am going to give you any information on a public forum you can trot on buddy. You have a very low opinion of the GR and I wonder why. If you want info on the GR look up the Garda website because that's the only info you will get from me. Go peddle your negative comments elsewhere

Raider,

Would i be able to PM you? Please:cool:

Pm1e wrote: »

Guys can I ask, are ye all in part time employment while you partake in this? Cheers in advance

some would be retired, unemployed, college students, some would have part time employment, most I know are in full time employment tho

Pm1e wrote: »

Good stuff thanks for that mate, thats what I was getting at, can someone in FT employment get through it or is a lot on one plate etc.

depends on how you manage your own affairs in life

I found it quite easy to fit everything because i was committed to it and used days off etc in order to fit in training and shifts. thats just me.

there are plenty of married men and women with full time jobs and kids who do well in excess of their yearly quota for training and duties

it depends of personal circumstance and motivation. youll get out of it what you put in. My advice would be that it gets easier to manage after the initial training phase. if you can get through that your golden

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread, but heard an advert on radio looking for applications for the reserves again.

Got slightly curious about it, and was wondering if I could do it?

Is 48 too old to apply?
Would it suit a shift worker? Could I do training or duties on my off-days, or would I miss it due to my shift pattern?

Thanks for that.

Could you give me a rough idea of what a Garda Reserve would do?Is it mostly admin work?
How often, what hours?
Any advice welcomed.

Hi, from my perspective the reserve is good, it gives you a look on life and people you never thought existed. I am 27 now and joined 5 years ago with asperations of going full time. That's what drove me to do it. Having something that inspires to do a ten hour shift for free is worth it Ive often covered the early unit after night shifts if someone was going to court because I genuinely love the job and everything about it baring in mind I have a 9-5. In all honesty the reserve is used against you during recruitment and not for you hence to mass exudose over the last 2 years. When on shift you are either in the station(dealing with queries from lost tourists, lost property and drunk idiots who ask you to call them taxis and the tonnes of people asking you to fill out passports.
You could be out in car, whereby you are responding to calls in and rarely outside of your district(personally be prepared for this as I was sent to my home town on a bench warrant pick up with two colleague and it was a local scrowth who was being arrested, i still haven't be recognised thankfully).
You need to be prepared to leave the sights of lifeless bodies and sexual assault, stabbings other grotesque cases behind you in the station when you going back to your normal job. Full timers are use to this as they do body identifications so many other things like that where it's natural for them to block it out.
You will need to be physically fit as I found out on my first night on the beat in Dublin (not saying where). I'm an ex boxer so I managed to hold my own and run after them.
You need to be able to trust the person you are with and visa versa, being able to work as part of team is huge because a Garda unit may have never had a new member join, in a couple of years and you are there fresh faced and need to be counted when you are needed.
The physical fighting modules in college are great and the instructors are more than helpful but the process is not long enough for you to deal with what you are up against (personally speaking). You need to do your own stuff outside of.thd college physical modules otherwise you are there for the taking in fight as you will most definitely be needed to fight someone to the ground and hold them down and handcuff them which is a lot to do but if you are not able to be physical it's definitely not for you.
The reserve is not as frowned upon as people make out and some of the stories you hear are dramatised. You will get the odd bystander saying "oh your just a reserve you have no power your a wannabe" but you do have power they maybe small powers but they are sufficient for your use on a unit. You won't use most of them but you will need to know them verbatim as everyone is a street solicitor nowadays.

You will need to have a perfect smile and poses for some great shots for those YouTube members who love to record everything.
Ive seen myself twice but thankfully in the background of protests.

The 1000 euro for 208 hours is horrific and I have never put in for it as it's disgraceful (personally speaking) I would never take anyone's overtime if I'm volunteering to do it free it's against my morals.

One massive and it is a big con is if you get a complaint and it's goes all the way to court you will foot the bill for your own legal support to defend you but if follow the code you have nothing to worry about.

But everything else is great I love it and would highly recommend it regardless of age.

When it was established it was thought of as the Irish version of the special constables like in the UK but it is far from it they are more qualified than most full time guards.

Hope this helps you.