SOME 300 gardai are to be transferred to the Border for three month tours of duty to stop BSE infected cattle being smuggled from Northern Ireland.
Garda management yesterday circularised divisions seeking volunteers for the Border duties. It is understood more than 160 gardai are being sought from Dublin.
The decision virtually reverses the position during last year's IRA ceasefire when the Government had proposed moving 300 gardai from security duties in Border divisions to help fight crime in Dublin.
The 300 extra gardai will replace more than 200 who have been helping gardai in the Border divisions on checkpoints on every road crossing since the BSE scare started two months ago.
The additional gardai will allow more normal work practices on the Border checkpoints. At present, gardai are working 12 hour shifts, often on their own and without shelter. It is expected an eight hour shift system will now be introduced.
The bulk of the new gardai will go to the Cavan Monaghan Division which has the largest number of Border crossings with which to contend. Some 199 gardai are due to go to Cavan Monaghan 67 to Louth Meath and 40 to Donegal.
Garda representatives in Dublin expressed surprise that so many officers were being offered transfers from the city to the Border. Mr Chris Finnegan, spokesman for the Garda Federation, said garda numbers in Dublin had fallen in the past two years during a period of high crime rates.
The Government had hoped to be able to substantially reduce garda numbers on Border duty if the IRA ceasefire kept up.
The Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, mentioned on a number of occasions she wished to see 300 gardai transferred to Dublin.
However, Garda management held back from moving gardai back from the Border. The ending of the IRA ceasefire on February 9th virtually put an end to hopes of moving significant numbers of extra gardai to Dublin to help cope with rising levels of crime.
Unofficial estimates suggest that, even without the Border transfers, the number of gardai in Dublin has fallen by 33 in the past two years, due mainly to retirement levels overtaking recruitment.