Bookmakers, taxi-drivers, dancehall owners, publicans, solicitors, auctioneers and active members of political parties are to be barred by Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy from joining the proposed 4,000-strong Garda Reserve.

Bailiffs, court staff, probation officers, private detectives and security guards will also be blocked from joining the force, which has been broadly supported by all parties in the Dáil except Sinn Féin.

The holder of a licence issued by the courts, Revenue or the Garda, or those who hold a licence which can be opposed by the Garda, are also excluded, according to the commissioner’s document.

In a letter to spokespersons for the Opposition last week, Minister for Justice Michael McDowell said that Mr Conroy’s proposals addressed “many of the questions” which had been raised about the reserve. Acknowledging the GRA and AGSI criticisms, he wrote that it had always been, and remained, his intention to meet representatives of both bodies before the final regulations were brought into being.

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Posted: 03|7|06 at 1:15 pm. Filed under: Auction News.