Irish police ‘denied basic needs’ during President Obama and the Queen’s Ireland visits

An Irish police body has revealed that their staff were denied “basic human needs” during President Obama and Queen Elizabeth’s visits to Ireland. They were denied hot food, toilet breaks and relief from work for up to 18 hours at a time during the State.

The Garda (Police) Representative Association (GRA) has said that “unnecessary hardship” was inflicted on their members in some cases. The evidence will be presented to the Garda Commissioner so these mistakes are not made again.

The association said that it did not want to wash its dirty “laundry in public” as a celebratory mood swept across the nations following the two state visits.

Speaking to the Garda Review, the GRA’s official journal, the General Secretary PJ Stone congratulated the police for successfully policing the state visits.

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He said "The association also praises the endurance and resilience of our members while completing long tours of duty at short notice and in cases denied basic human needs for protracted periods of time…As a result, many of our members felt undervalued by Garda management, and where long-standing agreements on basic conditions of employment were breached, or ignored, to complete the operation.

Stone said the management and supervision levels feel beneath agreed standards of welfare expected in modern policing.

"At this juncture, we are cognizant not to wash our laundry in public, especially in the light of the positive reaction we have received from outside of the organization, but as a staff association, we must address where lessons can be learned from the future and use our collective strength to redress where mistakes or poor practice placed unnecessary hardship on individuals."