The Garda Podcast

Our Serious Crime Review Team, often referred to as the Cold Case Unit is tasked with reviewing historical cases, many of them high profile, such as the case of Jo Jo Dullard, Sophie Toscan du Plantier and a recent review in to the Stardust tragedy. In this episode, Detective Superintendent Des McTiernan takes us behind the scenes of this highly specialised and experienced team who are determined to get justice for victims and their families.

For this highlight, we go back to episode five, where Garda Lorcan Byrne takes us through a dive with the Garda Water Unit. More Garda Podcast episodes are on the way very soon. You can follow the channel to get updates when those episodes drop.

Our Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) was established ten years ago this month, in March 2015. Last year, Detective Chief Superintendent Séamus Boland spoke to the Garda Podcast about the history of the bureau and its determination to disrupt, dismantle and prosecute those taking part in organised crime in Ireland.Over the last ten years, the GNDOCB has seized:• €627 million in illicit drugs• 171 firearms and 6,586 rounds of ammunition• cash €33,284,931, £385,591 GBP, $59,721 USD and• €20,103,030 forfeited to the state• 1,722 arrests for drug trafficking, money laundering, possession of firearms and other offences.The GNDOCB has interdicted in numerous ‘threat to life' operations where individuals were being targeted by criminal gangs.The GNDOCB leads on Operation Tara, to disrupt, dismantle and prosecute drug trafficking networks, at all levels - international, national, local - involved in the importation, distribution, cultivation, production, local sale and supply of controlled drugs. Under Operation Tara, individuals and groups involved in the drug trade are the target of enforcement activity based on intelligence and the latest crime trends.The GNDOCB co-ordinates and supports Divisional Drugs Units with a strong focus on tackling street-level dealing in cities, towns and villages across the country.The GNDOCB also supports An Garda Síochána's well-established Drug Related Intimidation Reporting Programme and supports the Government-led health approach to drug addiction.Under Operation Thor, the GNDOCB co-ordinates and supports Divisional resources actively targeting organised crime gangs and repeat offenders, particularly involved in rural burglaries and crimes, through enforcement activity based on intelligence and the latest burglary trends.The GNDOCB actively works with other state agencies including Revenue Customs, and the Irish Naval Service through the Joint Task Force on Drug Interdiction, Criminal Assets Bureau, across the island of Ireland through the Cross-Border Joint Agency Task Force and internationally with INTERPOL, Europol, MAOC (N), and wider through the network of Garda Liaison Officers and contacts in the Americas, Europe and Middle East.

Superintendent Stephen McCauley and Garda Seamus Fitzgerald are not only Gardaí attached to our Roads Policing Bureau, but motorcyclists when they're off duty too. In this special episode, recorded in Dublin Castle, Stephen and Seamus discuss their passion for motorcycling and give some safety tips.

What does an All Ireland winning Meath footballer, former stunt performer, firefighter and radio presenter have in common? They are all trainees in the Garda College and feature in this episode of The Garda Podcast. If you are interested in following in the footsteps of the people you heart in this podcast, you can apply to be a Garda in the latest Garda recruitment competition which is open until 3pm on Thursday 27 February, 2025. Apply on publicjobs.ie

Our Garda Dog Unit is an integral part of our operational support service, consisting of highly skilled Gardaí and Garda dogs. In this episode, Sergeant Brian Dineen takes us behind the scenes of this specialist unit.

An Garda Síochána is committed to road safety. From enforcement to education, our Garda National Roads Policing Bureau is constantly innovating and collaborating to ensure we have the right tools and strategies to keep you safe on our roads. In this episode, our Assistant Commissioner for Roads Policing, Paula Hilman sits down with Patrice Harrington to discuss the part we are playing to keep our roads safe.

Community Policing is at the heart of An Garda Síochána. In this episode, Chief Superintendent Padraic Jones of the Garda National Community Engagement Bureau sits down with Patrice Harrington to discuss this effective style of policing. This episode was recorded in late 2024.

From patrol cars to unmarked vehicles, from motorbikes to public order vans, the Garda fleet is unique. What does it take to procure such unique and innovative vehicles and how are they kept on the road to keep people safe? In this episode, our Head of Fleet Management gives a fascinating insight into the Garda fleet.

In this Missing Persons Day special, you'll hear from Detective Chief Superintendent Colm Noonan who has responsibility for the Garda Missing Persons Unit, Jerry Bradley, brother of Alan Bradley who went missing in Maynooth, Kildare in 1999 and you'll hear from Dr Hilary Clarke, a scientist from Forensic Science Ireland (FSI). Missing Persons Day, hosted by the Department of Justice, is an annual commemorative day for families and friends to remember their missing loved ones. It's also a day for An Garda Síochána to highlight how we will do all we can to bring those who are missing home and to encourage anyone with information about any missing person to please contact us. You can do so by contacting any Garda Station or by calling the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111.

Our Garda College is the national centre for police training, development and learning and is based in the town of Templemore, Co. Tipperary. In this episode, you'll find out what life is like for Garda Trainees during their Foundation Training Programme and what it takes to become a member of An Garda Síochána.

Our National Escort Unit consists of highly skilled Garda motorcyclists who provide escorts for various reasons, including for the transport of VIPs and critically ill patents. In this episode, you'll go inside this specialist unit and hear about their training, more about who they escort and why.

This episode features an interview with Superintendent Niall Featherstone, Chief Bureau Officer with the Garda National Vetting Bureau. Last year, our Garda Vetting Bureau processed over 588,000 vetting applications from 28,000 relevant organisations. Find out why vetting takes place, what information is looked for during the vetting process, what is disclosed to an organisation, tips on how to carry out your vetting application and lots more.

Ireland and England went head to head in a UEFA Nations League soccer game at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin on September 7th 2024. Due to the high risk nature of this fixture, the Garda Commissioner declared it an extraordinary event, meaning that leave could be cancelled for Gardaí to ensure enough resources were in place. In this episode, we follow those charged with policing this event in the days leading up to kick off and during and after the match. You'll get an insight in to the detailed pre planning that takes place, the many different specialist units involved, the wide reaching policing plan and we bring you inside the control rooms in Dublin city and the Aviva Stadium.

Find out how we played a key role in dismantling a major global communication platform known as Ghost. This platform is used by dangerous criminals and Organised Crime Groups (OCGs) in Ireland and around the world. We carried out 33 coordinated searches across the country on Monday 16 September and gathered significant evidence. Séamus Boland, Detective Chief Superintendent with the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau and Justin Kelly, An Garda Síochána's Assistant Commissioner, Organised and Serious Crime feature in this episode and explain more about this significant operation.

On September 9 2024, the Garda Commissioner hosted a ceremony to award deceased, retired and serving members of An Garda Síochána with Scott Medals for bravery at Walter Scott House, Dublin. The Scott Medal is the highest award that can be bestowed by the Commissioner of An Garda Síochána and is awarded for ‘most exceptional bravery and heroism involving the risk of life in the execution of duty'. In 1924 Colonel Walter Scott donated to An Garda Síochána a $1,000 gold bond, in perpetuity, to endow a bravery medal, the Walter Scott Medal, and included the dies from which all Scott medals would be struck. The businessman and philanthropist Colonel Walter Scott met the then Garda Commissioner, General Eoin O'Duffy at an International Police Conference in New York in 1923. He then wrote to the Commissioner on January 8, 1924 consummating the offer made of donating the ‘Walter Scott Medal for Valour.' Commissioner O'Duffy responded on January 24, 1924 thanking Colonel Scott for his generosity.   The first Gold Scott Medal was awarded to Garda James Mulroy of Co. Mayo for his bravery in arresting an armed man in Broadford, Co. Clare in 1923 and was presented to him by Walter Scott himself at a ceremony in Phoenix Park on August 19, 1924. Garda Mulroy went on to donate his medal back to the organisation in 1978. The medal, and the original letter from Colonel Walter Scott, are both on display in the Garda Museum.  In this episode, you'll hear a slightly shortened version of the proceedings that took place in Walter Scott House, Dublin on September 9 2024.

The Garda Síochána Analysis Service (GSAS) is a national, operational support service that turns internal and externally sourced data into information and insight that supports investigations and management decisions within An Garda Síochána. In this episode, GSAS Director Sara Parsons details the highly specialist work undertaken by analysts in the service, including involvement in some of Ireland's most high profile cases.

We have a skilled public order capacity in An Garda Síochána. Our National Public Order Units are constantly trained and assessed to the highest standards in tactics, equipment and fitness. In this episode, Garda Karl Burton, a Public Order Training Coordinator explains the function of the Garda National Public Order Unit.

Assistant Commissioner Angela Willis has responsibility for the policing of the DMR - the Dublin Metropolitan Region. In this episode, recorded in August 2024, she sits down with Patrice Harrington to discuss the many challenges and high points that come with policing a capital city.

Our National Mounted Unit provides very specialised policing on horseback support within An Garda Síochána. Gardaí and their beautiful horses undertake community relations activities, high-visibility patrols, crowd control at major events, searches for missing persons over difficult terrain, assisting at incidents of public disorder and more. In this episode, Garda Nives Caplice takes us behind the scenes at their base in Áras an Uachtaráin, Phoenix Park, Dublin.

The Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau (GNCCB) is tasked with the forensic examination of electronic devices seized during the course of any criminal investigation. The bureau also has responsibility for investigating significant and complex cybercrimes that target computer systems and provides cyber-prevention advice to the public. In this episode, GNCCB Detective Chief Superintendent Barry Walsh brings us behind the scenes of this fascinating bureau.

The Garda Water Unit provides operational support and search capability in marine environments and hazardous locations. In this episode, we take you behind the scenes of this highly specialised unit.

The aim of the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) is to deny and deprive people of the proceeds of criminal conduct. Chief CAB Bureau Officer, Garda Chief Superintendent Michael Gubbins takes us inside this multi agency body. Find out about some of the most common and valuable items seized, how CAB's process works and how you can help.

Based at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel, Dublin, the Garda Air Support Unit was established in 1997 and has since become a vital operational support in An Garda Síochána. In this episode, Sergeant Mark Campbell takes us behind the scenes of this highly specialised unit.

Sinéad Greene is a Detective Superintendent with the Garda National Protective Services Bureau (GNPSB). Detective Superintendent Greene gives a fascinating and powerful insight in to the important work carried out by her Bureau, including the tackling of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. In an emergency, please call 999 / 112

Detective Chief Superintendent Séamus Boland heads up the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau. In this exclusive interview, he talks to Patrice Harrington about the important work carried out by his team to disrupt, dismantle and prosecute organised crime groups. He talks about his own career path in An Garda Síochána, how the illegal drugs and organised crime landscape has dramatically changed in recent times, the importance of international collaboration and much more.

The Garda Podcast is an official An Garda Síochána podcast.