Ireland pledges Garda pursuit training following fatal M9 crash

Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan has pledged that An Garda Síochána will receive the necessary resources to begin pursuit training this year, following a fatal crash on the M9 motorway in Co Kildare that killed five teenagers. Commissioner Justin Kelly reportedly committed to introducing this training, which is currently unavailable within the force, to address public safety concerns following recent high-profile motorway collisions.

However, the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) and other sources within the force have raised doubts regarding the feasibility of this timeline. Critics point to significant resource constraints due to the upcoming EU Presidency and a scheduled visit from the US president. Furthermore, sources indicate that a critical bottleneck exists because the instructors required to teach these complex pursuit methods have not yet been trained themselves.