Some Irish officers to get tasers in new six-month pilot scheme

Some frontline uniformed gardaí (Irish police) will be given tasers as part of a new pilot project.

The six-month scheme, set to roll out in Dublin, Waterford and Kilkenny will see about 128 officers who already use body-worn cameras given the tasers.

The initiative was brought to a meeting of the Irish Cabinet on Tuesday morning by Irish Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan.

Officers in the Republic are largely unarmed, with only members of the force's specialist armed unit able to access them at present, but the tánaiste (Irish deputy PM) said it will allow gardaí to protect themselves.

"Brave men and women who put on their uniform every day are often faced now with increased levels of abuse on the streets, levels of attacks," Simon Harris said before Tuesday's meeting.

Harris said tasers "in certain instances" can play an important role.

The use of tasers are restricted to specially-trained officers in Northern Ireland and are not issued to the vast majority of front-line personnel.

The Police Federation for Northern Ireland is calling for the "greater deployment" of tasers for officers.

Its chair Liam Kelly said tasers "may have been an invaluable option and could possibly have prevented injury" when officers were attacked in Londonderry at the end of November.

"Far too many of our officers are being assaulted - 2,630 from October 2024 to September this year - but we believe this figure would be greatly reduced if officers were equipped with tasers.

He said it would give officers "greater protection".

"Our officers carry a personal protection weapon but taser would be a less lethal tactical option to subdue and safely control attackers without the need to draw and discharge a conventional firearm in the most serious incidents," he added.

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Assistant Chief Constable Melanie Jones said currently tasers are restricted to specialist firearms officers.

Any deployment of a taser is automatically referred to the Police Ombudsman.

ACC Jones said officers who are armed with tasers have a "deterrent value", and give a degree of protection against potential attackers.

"A broader roll out of tasers would come with significant costs and training which will be factors to consider, however, our priority is to ensure our officers have the resources they need to be as safe as they possibly can be," she added.

Speaking to Irish broadcaster RTÉ, Niall Hodgins, vice president of the Garda Representative Association, said the news was "very welcome".

He said there were almost 1,000 attacks on gardaí last year, with 300 of those deemed to be "serious".

"The great thing about these tasers is that they can very much contribute to the de-escalation of the more violent and aggressive encounters that our members are experiencing year-on-year," he said.

However the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) said it was "deeply concerned" about the use of tasers, adding that they are not an "effective de-escalation tool in all situations".

The ICCL's director Joe O'Brien said it is a "complete step change" from the force's tradition of being unarmed.

"We are unclear what precise issues the minister and garda commissioner (chief constable) feel tasers will resolve, why they believe this to be the case, and how they will run and analyse this pilot project," he added.

"We in ICCL are clear: tasers are not the Christmas gift Gardaí need."