Three Westmeath men among country’s newest Gardai

Three Westmeath people were among the 87 recruits who graduated from the Garda Training College in Templemore last week.

The country's newest Gardai became sworn members of the force at a ceremony attended by Justice Minister Helen McEntee on Friday.

None of the 87 new recruits, however, are being stationed in Westmeath, Roscommon or Offaly.

The Westmeath men who graduated from the Garda Training College were Conor Cleary, Darren Keena, and Patrick Clarke.

Mr Cleary is being stationed in Drogheda, Mr Keena is being stationed in Balbriggan, and Mr Clarke will be based in Ballyfermot.

Claire Doran from Roscommon graduated on Friday, and will be stationed in Ashbourne, while Stephen O'Meara from Offaly was also among the new recruits and will be taking up a post at Henry Street in Dublin.

The 87 new members included 69 men and 18 women, and brought the total number of sworn Gardai to 13,949.

Seven of the new recruits were born outside the State - in Northern Ireland, England, Lithuania, America and Spain. A statement issued by the Garda Press Office stated that 62 of the 87 new Gardai were being stationed in the Dublin area.

"The new Gardaí commenced their Garda training in November 2022, and have undertaken a blend of on-line learning, on-site learning in the Garda College, and experiential learning in training Garda stations," the Garda statement said.

"The allocation of Probationer Gardaí is initially to training Garda stations and also allows for consequential inter-divisional transfers of other members."

The Garda Press Office said on Friday that 289 Garda recruits were undergoing training in Templemore, while a new intake of 175 recruits was due to enter the training college earlier today (Monday).