The Garda and the Police Service of Northern Ireland have launched their first formal exchange training programme aimed at forging closer ties between the two services.
Speaking at the launch, the head of the student and probationer school at Garda College in Templemore, Co Tipperary, Supt Kiaran Kenny, said the enhancement of training provisions for both police services, as proposed in the Patten recommendations, was very welcome.
"This is a great opportunity for both forces to share learning experiences on a formal basis. After all the preparative work, this is our first input into the PSNI's curriculum and their first contribution to ours," he added.
The programme consists of an exchange of training officers who will lecture recruits at the two services' respective training colleges, Templemore and the PSNI's Garneville college. Three Garda officers are spending this week in Belfast delivering classes on traffic, crime and general police duties, while next month the PSNI is due to dispatch a number of training officers to Co Tipperary.
Supt Kenny said the first areas identified for common training included social studies, communications and legal and policing subjects. "In addition, we have already identified areas that I don't want to specify but which are done in a very practical way here which we would like to include in the curriculum at Templemore."
Officers could enormously benefit from sharing their experiences and gaining a greater awareness of how other services approached subjects, he added. The increase in accountability through the setting up of a Police Ombudsman's Office such as the one in the North was already being followed by establishing a Police Inspectorate, he said.
The head of the foundation faculty at Garneville, PSNI Supt Roy Fleming, said it was vital for the two forces to formalise training links so that officers from both services would be involved on a regular basis.
"This will have a number of benefits both for our students and for our organisations. Whilst we have always had an excellent relationship on an operational level and between the two training colleges, this will create an even better and more structured standard of co-operation between the two police services."
While the programme was only aimed at recruits at foundation level, an independent secondment scheme for more senior officers was also being considered, Supt Fleming added.
"The role of the foundation course can, however, not be overestimated. It is crucial in taking forward the changes that the police service in the North is currently undergoing and which the new recruits will eventually shape. We very much appreciate the input that our colleagues in the South can offer in this regard."
He was "full of awe" for the facilities available to gardaí at Templemore, Supt Fleming said. "It is a visionary facility that officers can be proud of in terms of training and infrastructure and I look forward to the day when we will see a similar commitment of resources to the PSNI."