"parking outside Garda stations makes us look like a banana repubic"

liaconn said:
Nowhere did I 'paint the entire profession'. I said 'there had been incidents' not that 'every guard behaves like this'.
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You said some agency black listed the entire Garda force because they blackmailed property owners.
 

So you are 'guessing' that members of the emergency forces have been involved in road traffic accidents through dangerous or careless driving and have escaped conviction because they are guards or something?
 
Sunny said:
You said some agency black listed the entire Garda force because they blackmailed property owners.
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Yes, but that's not me painting the entire profession. It's an example of how some Guards abuse their position and therefore this agency won't let to Guards anymore because they can't take the risk. It is the Guards concerned who are letting down their profession, in the same way that lazy civil servants or corrupt bankers or unreliable tradesmen or dishonest County Councillors sully the reputation of entire occupational sectors. I'm not saying it's fair on the good guys. I'm sure there's lots of Guards who don't park illegally as well.
 

Not making any point. I was simply putting some balance into a discussion where someone posted something about hearing how some property agent had blacklisted the entire gardai force because they blackmailed property owners into letting them off with money they owe.

There are many useless, lazy and corrupt Gardai. There are also some that aren't. Exact same as any profession.

Anyway, this is completely off topic. Illegal parking shouldn't be allowed. Guards or no Guards. Why don't traffic wardens and clampers simply issue tickets and clamp vehicles? They can enforce parking laws as well as the Gardai.
 

As I've just said. Still not sure what your point is.
 
liaconn said:
As I've just said. Still not sure what your point is.
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The posts crossed. My point is why shouldn't I be allowed post about the many positive stories about the Gardai if you are allowed post your story about hearing about the negatives? I don't know know point you were making with your original point either considering it was simply a story you heard from someone and nothing to do with illegal parking which is in a different league of offences to alleged Gardai corruption that you were talking about.
 
Sunny said:
So you are 'guessing' that members of the emergency forces have been involved in road traffic accidents through dangerous or careless driving and have escaped conviction because they are guards or something?
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I can say first hand that this has happened; a family member was knocked down by a patrol car when she was walking back to school after her lunch. The car was not in pursuit etc, the driver just lost control and mounted the pavement, knocking the child down. No serious damage done, just cuts and bruises and quite a bit of pain. No apology from the Gardai, just a visit to the parents from a sergeant from the local station to say that nothing would be done and if the parents were smart they’d leave it at that.
This happened a few years ago so hopefully things have changed since.

BTW, I don't for a moment think all Gardai are like that.
 

After the relevations of Donegal, nothing would surprise me.

A few months ago, I had reason to complain to the Garda Ombudsman about an incident. I found it to be a positive experience and certainly never felt that there was any attempt to cover up something or make me regret complaining.

Anyway, back on topic.

As I asked before, why don't the traffic wardens and clampers enforce the parking laws on Pearse Street?
 

The subject of this thread was based on a newspaper article about Guards who, while upholding the law, abuse it themselves. My post was in response (and I quoted it) to a remark made by another poster about how some Guards think they can do what they like and the rules don't apply. I was citing an example of where I'd come across this.

You just made a remark about a heroic incident relating to a Guard as if it negated my post.
 

A friend of mine had a very similar incident which really shocked us all. Obviously, its a minority of Guards who behave like this, but it needs to be commented on because it's a pretty serious attitude.
 
liaconn said:
A friend of mine had a very similar incident which really shocked us all. Obviously, its a minority of Guards who behave like this, but it needs to be commented on because it's a pretty serious attitude.
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I have friends who are Guards. I would hate to think they were being judged by the standards of the cowboys. That's one of the reasons why it annoys me so much.
Most of them do a fine job but there is a sizable minority who have a them and us mentality with the public and think they have to defend their colleagues no matter what. It’s that mentality that undermines the public perception of the police.
 
A member of my family was involved in an accident involving 2 Gardai where the Gardai ran out in front of her in pursuit of someone and she knocked them down. Both Gardai said at the scene that it was their fault. However more Guards then arrived at the scene and began asking her questions about when the car was last serviced and checking the tyre threads etc and then the car had to be towed to be forensically examined to ensure that it was roadworthy. She was left on the side of the road in Gardiner Street at 8pm at night and had to make her own way home, had no car for a week and then had to have the car repaired herself by claiming on her own insurance.
 
I spoke to a taxi driver one evening who was hit by a police car. His car was written off. He didn’t claim for injury as he wasn’t badly hurt but did claim for the damage done. When I spoke to him he was very upset as the previous night two Guards arrived at his house and said that they were going to prosecute him because the car he had under a tarp in his driveway was not VRT’d. It was UK registered and had been left to him in his brother’s will. I pointed out to him that as it was bequeathed to him it was VRT exempt.
 
I don't know what the fuss is about regarding Irish police parking where they like ,on or off duty.
It's exactly the same in the othe PIIGS states. Irish cops, in common with their Greek, Italian and other EU banana-state colleagues, think the law doesn't apply to them . But,then ,is that not what many people here in public positions believe?
 
Take a drive on any of our fantastic motorways, or drive though any village or town in Ireland and you will see drivers who think the road traffic acts do not apply to them.

Regarding the article, you could easily substitute AGS (An Garda Siochana) with 'taxi-driver', 'white-van man', 'school run mum' and countless other examples. They all abuse the laws in this country on a daily basis and cry when they are pulled up by members of AGS or a traffic/parking warden, or worse still, clampers. Fair enough, Gardai should uphold the law, they should set an example for the rest of us, but seriously, highlighting illegal parking when parking is the main problem with Pearse Street Garda station. Gardai need a mode of transport, and that transport must be parked somewhere in close proximity to the station, not in a nearby parking lot or apartment carpark.
 
RonanC said:
Take a drive on any of our fantastic motorways, or drive though any village or town in Ireland and you will see drivers who think the road traffic acts do not apply to them.
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Those people aren't charged with enforcing (and upholding) the law.
 

True; it's a symptom of a wider problem.
 

Never experienced this and would put it down to idle chat.
 
MrMan said:
Never experienced this and would put it down to idle chat.
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No, its not idle chat. My brother is thinking of renting out his house and was talking to another landlord I know who uses this agency. Obviously, as I said, they've just had a couple of bad experiences with Gardai and are now unwilling to deal with them. As usual, the majority suffer because of a few bad apples.
 
Young, male and gard is a bad combination from my own and that of fellow landlord's experiences.
 
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