Pay: On appointment to the Garda the annual salary is £13,326 rising by increments to £23,947. Rent and other allowances are also payable.

Website: The Garda website is at http://www.irlgov.ie or www.garda.ie

Entry standards:

To be eligible to apply to the Garda, students must have obtained a grade not lower than D at ordinary level in at least 5 subjects (including Irish, English, maths) in the Leaving Certificate or in the Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme. Alternatively they are eligible with a grade no lower than D at ordinary level in at least three subjects (including English) together with a grade not lower than B at foundation level in maths and a grade not lower than C at foundation level in Irish in either the Leaving Certificate or Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme. Equally, the merit grade in the Leaving Certificate Applied is acceptable or like grades in another examination, which, in the opinion of the Minister for Justice, is not of a lower standard than the above.

She had never seen a corpse. She knew nothing about heroin addicts or domestic violence. Joining the Garda Siochana was an eye-opener for Clodagh O'Sullivan.

She grew up in Middleton, Co Cork, and decided to apply to the Garda three years after her Leaving Certificate. "It opened my eyes big-time. I would hardly have been to Dublin before that. Then here I was in the middle of the city." When she began working as a Garda, the job "was a whole new experience". Working out of Pearse Street Garda Station in Dublin city, as part of her training and later as a member of the force, was particularly challenging and a great learning experience.

The training in Templemore, Co Tipperary, was "my first time away from home", she says. There were about 100 on the course, including 21 women. Having worked as a sales assistant and later at the town's Jameson Heritage Centre, it was "tough enough" going back to studying full-time, but "the comradeship was brilliant", she says. "You don't know what to expect until you go through it." What made the course enjoyable and challenging, was that "all through, you have goals to aim for".

Their subjects included law, social science, the theory of policing, communications, the Irish language and physical training. Following completion of her first six months, with two weeks off for Christmas, she was assigned to a Cork city station for six months. She was sent to Anglesea Street Garda Station. In uniform, she worked under the supervision of tutorial staff.

"You spend 12 weeks in uniform observing, seeing how the Garda deal with things. It's all very new." Also she spent one day a week in school at the Barrack Street in-service - "15 of us went to that". Here they discussed what they were doing during the week, analysing incidents and being asked how they would deal "with this and what do you think of that". She also had to spend time working in a specialised unit. O`Sullivan spent two weeks on "social placement" in a shelter for battered women, where her work involved looking after the children, doing some of the cleaning around the place and generally getting to know some of the women and learning how to be sensitive to those who were in difficult situations.

Then it was back to Templemore for phase three, which was "brilliant". Following her experience of working in a station, she says, "you have seen it in reality and you are looking at it from a different perspective". Some of the areas covered by the Garda Siochana, she says "I would never have seen before or thought about. It would hit reality. I would never have seen a corpse before or thought about it. You have to stand back and assess situations and not get emotionally involved. You have to stand back and look at things from a Garda's point of view. That doesn't mean that you can't be sensitive to people."

The college has a modern courtroom and students do "a good deal of court preparation" where "you have to get up in front of your peers, it's nerve-wracking - it's like doing it for real. It does build your confidence, though.

"It can be very rewarding and satisfying going back for phase three. Meeting all your friends is great."

She was also sent to Ballyconnell, Co Cavan, on the border for eight weeks' training. Then she was assigned to Pearse Street Station in Dublin. "I really enjoyed it," she says, listing some of the jobs she had to do such as Dail duty, observer in the official patrol car, beat duty and jailer in the station, sometimes having to deal with addicts. Having completed the course, including a dissertation on domestic violence and the completion of day to day diaries, she was awarded a diploma in police studies with merit and graduated in May 1995.

Today she is Cork-based, working in plain clothes, and would not change her job for all the tea in China. "You are meeting the public, all sorts of people. You can have great laughs, and at other times you have to console people, as well as getting the details. Templemore prepares you for that. You must be sensitive to people. You must have an element of it, their sorrow, in yourself. You have a lot of different roles.

"I enjoy going to work. I couldn't imagine getting up and not wanting to go to work. You don't know what to expect. You don't know who you are going to come across."