Templemore Garda Training College celebrates first graduation ceremony in over two years

Templemore Garda Training College saw the first batch of new probationer Gardaí graduate today in over two years, with 38 women and 64 men donning the blue uniform of An Garda Siochána before Justice Minister Helen McEntee and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris in a Passing Out Ceremony. 

The Training College, which forms part of the core of Templemore’s economy, had been effectively mothballed during the Covid 19 lockdown. Now, new life is being breathed back into the College: about 200 new recruits are expected to swell numbers to about 1,000 students in the coming months. 

Chief Commissioner Drew Harris told the Tipperary Star that a new recruitment competition had attracted over 11,000 applicants. Templemore can expect a boost to the local economy as these trainees spend money locally in shops and restaurants. 

From next September, classes of 200 students will attend every 11 weeks, carrying through to the remainder of 2022, and into 2023 and 2024. 

“There’s a very considerable uplift in An Garda Siochána, up to 15,000, which can be achieved over the next 18 to 20 months,” said Commissioner Harris.  

The new recruits hail from a diverse range of nationalities and backgrounds, including New Zealand, Angola, Croatia, Poland, the UK, Guatemala and Saudi Arabia. 

Among them were six Tipperary graduates: Thomas Bourke from Upperchurch, Thurles, who will be stationed in Coolock; Sean Kenny from Thurles, to be stationed in Carlow; Gunita Valaine from Clonmel, stationed in Dungarvan; Aoife Bartley from Carrick-on-Suir, stationed in Carlow; Kevin O’Donovan from Clonmel, stationed in Kilkenny; and Natalie Duane from Nenagh, stationed in Henry Street, Limerick. 

Garda Bourke told the Tipperary Star that he was inspired to go into the gardaí as he always admired and respected their difficult work. “I was in the Order of Malta, and I’ve worked with youth clubs.” 

A former Undertaker, Garda Bourke says he looks forward to the challenges ahead and “to give back to the community, and to make a difference in society, is something I really wanted to do.” 

Full story in next week’s Tipperary Star.