{"id":2016,"date":"2022-03-09T09:17:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-09T09:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.recruitireland.com\/advice-centre\/?p=2016"},"modified":"2023-09-05T11:19:46","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T10:19:46","slug":"i-never-imagined-life-in-the-gardai-would-involve-so-many-tragedies-but-theres-so-much-happiness-in-my-job-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.recruitireland.com\/advice-centre\/i-never-imagined-life-in-the-gardai-would-involve-so-many-tragedies-but-theres-so-much-happiness-in-my-job-too\/","title":{"rendered":"“I never imagined life in the Garda\u00ed would involve so many tragedies, but there\u2019s so much happiness in my job too”"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na are currently carrying out a massive recruitment campaign, with plans to greatly expand the service and increase their ranks to 15,000 members.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Applications for the positions close this month, and so we at Recruit Ireland have sought out the expert advice that you should consider before putting yourself forward for the job.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Garda Tadhg Mohally has over 20 years\u2019 experience in An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, and the job has taken him all over the country and provided him with a huge variety of opportunities within that time.<\/p>\n

Given how much success he\u2019s found in the career, it\u2019s surprising that being a Garda had never been Tadhg\u2019s initial plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had been studying accounting in college originally, when a friend of mine told me he was applying to join the Garda\u00ed,\u201d Tadhg recalls. \u201cHe thought it was something I\u2019d be interested in too, and that I\u2019d be good at, so he convinced me to apply and thankfully we both got in. I finished off my second year in college before I transferred, then had my first day in Templemore on the 27th<\/sup> July 1998.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the twenty-three years that have followed, Tadhg has never regretted his decision to join An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. He believes one of the biggest perks to the job is its ever-changing nature, which means he\u2019s never been stuck doing the same thing for long.<\/p>\n

After graduating from Templemore, he was stationed in Howth Garda Station, where he spent the next five years before transferring to Kilkenny in 2004.<\/p>\n

In Kilkenny Garda Station, Tadhg continued working in the regular unit on day-to-day policing until a vacancy popped up for community policing and he switched over to the new position.<\/p>\n

It would not be the last transition he\u2019d make during his seventeen years as a Garda in Kilkenny. In the years that followed, Tadhg also found success as a family liaison officer \u2013 an emotionally fraught and busy job, but one he took great pride in.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a family liaison officer basically means you\u2019re the key link between a victim\u2019s family and the guards,\u201d Tadhg explains. \u201cAt no stage should the family not know what\u2019s going on, so if they have any queries or concerns they come to you and you find the right answers for them. Then once the case goes to court, you accompany them there and talk them through the whole court process. You\u2019re really just there to ease their burden as much as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

This desire to help the victims of crime, or to get their families some answers, would come to the forefront during Tadhg\u2019s next venture with An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. In 2012, a rare opening became available in the Scenes of Crime Unit and Tadhg decided it was time to try something totally new.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s definitely not like you see in the movies, where you shine a special torch and all your evidence just magically lights up!\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI had no forensics experience when I joined the Scenes of Crime Unit,\u201d he admits. \u201cI was well used to crime, in that it\u2019s what I had been dealing with up to that point through going to burglaries and things of that nature. I had a very basic knowledge, as every guard is forensically aware of things like how to apprehend somebody.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I joined the Scenes of Crime Unit, though, they trained us to a very high standard. I became really aware of all the ways that any scene I was attending could eventually help us secure a conviction in court. We covered all possibilities in our training, from obvious things like finding a fingerprint, to how do you pull that same print when it\u2019s in blood? Or there are some trickier things, like a lot of people probably don\u2019t realise that there\u2019s skill involved in taking prints from objects like windows. It\u2019s definitely not like you see in the movies, where you shine a special torch and all your evidence just magically lights up!\u201d<\/p>\n

Tadhg went on to spend nine years with the Scenes of Crime Unit, and in that time he came across all kinds of cases \u2013 some that have haunted him more than others. From home break-ins, right through the spectrum to sexual assault or murder scenes, Tadhg has seen it all.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s definitely been some really difficult scenes I\u2019ve had to attend,\u201d he sighs. \u201cBut I\u2019ve learnt a lot from them, and you get better at coping after each of those experiences. I learnt from a fatal road traffic accident that I responded to years ago that it\u2019s so important to talk to somebody after it, and now it\u2019s one of the first things I do once I come off cases like that. I\u2019ll either talk it out during the drive back with the other Garda\u00ed who were on the scene with me, or I\u2019ll arrange for us to pick up the phone in a few days\u2019 time and check in on each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Garda\u00ed are a very close family, so we all look out for each other. If we know somebody\u2019s had a bad day, we\u2019ll all go for a coffee or pint afterwards or something. If one of our colleagues is going through something, we more than likely have been through it ourselves at some point too, so it definitely does help to talk about it,\u201d he shared. \u201cWe are also very lucky that counselling is readily available through An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. I personally talk to my friends or colleagues more often, but it\u2019s great to have professionals there for the serious stuff, like a murder scene that was particularly disturbing.\u201d<\/p>\n

I think that\u2019s what guards do, first and foremost, is they\u2019re out there to help people. So if it means going through a bit of hardship ourselves to get a good result for somebody at the other end of it, it is worth it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The serious side of the job isn\u2019t something to be taken lightly, Tadhg warns, but he says it shouldn\u2019t deter people from joining the Garda\u00ed either; \u201cThe tragedies that come with the job are definitely something people should be aware of. I mean, I would never have dreamt when I was going to school that I was going to end up in a job dealing with such sadness, but I suppose you just have to remember that you get to deal with, and create, a lot of happiness too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know of other sections in An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na where they deal with absolutely horrific cases daily, let\u2019s say departments that deal with children who have been abused. I know I wouldn\u2019t be able to do their job, but they always say that they enjoy their work because it means they can come away knowing they\u2019ve helped and protected that child by investigating the crimes committed against them. So you have to look at the positives, that\u2019s the only way to get through it.<\/p>\n

“Let\u2019s say a house has been broken into – if you know you\u2019ve helped make sure that somebody gets convicted for it, then there\u2019s a positive. Sometimes there\u2019ll be a very sudden, unexpected death and we have to go in and investigate it, but if we\u2019re able to tell a family at the end of the coroner\u2019s report that it was an accident or that their loved one died in a way that wasn\u2019t malicious or intentional, then of course there\u2019s still sadness there but it also helps the family. I think that\u2019s what guards do, first and foremost, is they\u2019re out there to help people. So if it means going through a bit of hardship ourselves to get a good result for somebody at the other end of it, it is worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve seen any of the adverts on TV lately, you\u2019ll know we\u2019re looking to get applicants from all walks of life.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There are plenty of other things, Tadhg says, that make a career in An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na worth it. During our interview, he laughs as he remembers helping to get an anxious couple to the hospital just in time for the wife to deliver their first child. He grins as he tells me about a more recent incident where his colleagues helped an elderly woman who came to the station looking for help in getting her driver\u2019s license, and they kindly took the time to book a driving test online for her. From these small moments for a Garda, that can mean a whole lot more to the people they\u2019re helping, to the regular interactions they\u2019d have with the public while out on the beat, it\u2019s clear that a sense of community is one of the top criteria needed in any future recruits.<\/p>\n

Beyond that, however, there\u2019s significantly wide scope within what An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na are looking for from their latest recruitment drive. \u201cThe criteria changes every so often, it\u2019s definitely moved on since I was applying,\u201d says Tadhg. \u201cIf you\u2019ve seen any of the adverts on TV lately, you\u2019ll know we\u2019re looking to get applicants from all walks of life. You don\u2019t need to be extremely academic or have gotten crazily high Leaving Cert points, and you don\u2019t need to be fluent in Irish anymore.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithin the job, they train you and facilitate you with any skills you\u2019ll need, so don\u2019t feel you\u2019d be underqualified for anything until you try it. Really for this recruitment drive, the Garda\u00ed are looking for things like applicants who\u2019ve trained their local football team, because straight away you can see this person has a skill and they\u2019re using it to help people, and are regularly interacting with their community. If you\u2019re talking to and helping twenty kids on the pitch every Saturday evening, then at the end of the day you could well go into work with An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na and apply those same skills if you\u2019re helping twenty people to deal with a tragedy or a break-in or something like that. So that\u2019s why they\u2019re trying to get recruits from many different sections of society right now, because those future Garda\u00ed will then in turn be dealing with people and incidents from any and all walks of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve had a wonderful career but I never had to miss out on watching my children grow up because of it\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The walk of life that Tadhg himself is from is, no surprise, a very community-oriented one. The family man left Kilkenny last year and is now working in the garda station in Thurles, after moving there with his wife and kids. As much as he loves his job, it\u2019s always been important to Tadhg that family comes first.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s another reason why I\u2019d really encourage people to go for a career in the Garda\u00ed, is because you can find ways to fit it around the rest of your life,\u201d he advises. \u201cWhen my kids were still young, I worked a shift pattern of four days on and four days off. The days \u2018on\u2019 were long, twelve-hour shifts but then the other 50% of my time was free to spend with my family. So while I usually missed out on weekends with them, I could be off work from Monday right through to Friday morning, getting them to and from school and all of that. I\u2019ve had a wonderful career but I never had to miss out on watching my children grow up because of it\u201d.<\/p>\n

If any of his family wanted to become a Garda tomorrow, Tadhg would be overjoyed. Such is his love for the job; \u201cIf anybody was thinking about it, or had even the slightest feeling that it might be for them, then I would 100% say they should go for it\u201d he enthuses.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been with An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na for almost twenty-three years, and I\u2019ve not looked back once. I\u2019ll certainly see myself out with them. It offers you a huge variety, I think the life experiences I\u2019ve gotten from my work, compared to some of my peers that I grew up with, is just extraordinary. I certainly wouldn\u2019t change it. Say tomorrow, I could go into work at seven in the morning and I\u2019ll have no idea what I might have faced by the time I head home that evening. I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll ever get sick of that, the not knowing what\u2019s next.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you share Tadhg\u2019s sense of adventure, and think a career in An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na may be for you, then be sure to get your application in by Wednesday 16th<\/sup> March<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Click here for all the details you need to apply!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

For more on latest news in the hiring space, make sure you checkout our recruitment news<\/a> section.<\/p>\n

If you are a recent graduate or just someone seeking to explore the job market, make sure to check out the different recruitment opportunities with Recruit Ireland:<\/p>\n