Gardaí cannot have visible tattoos...

It would be interesting to see what they would do if someone got a tattoo while a serving garda.

As he says, he went through 18 months of interviews etc. with a highly visible tattoo on his hand and no one objected then. He is now left with no job :(
 
Hate to disagree, standards have been slipping for years, height, weight, beards and what's next hand and face tats? They look unprofessional and messy. No place in a professional police force.
 
Knuttell said:
Hate to disagree, standards have been slipping for years, height, weight, beards and what's next hand and face tats? They look unprofessional and messy. No place in a professional police force.
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Beards? :D They even let women into the gardai now as well, shocking I know!
You stated you believe we should have more prisons and more prisoners to deal with the Gotham style thuggery on the streets (your words not mine) but you don't want the gardai dealing with such thuggery to have a tattoo on their hand!
 
Correct, plenty of candidates that don't look like a 10 Yr old has scribbled on them. (Anecdotal) indeed plenty of Gardai without tats pushing paper when they should be replaced by clerical staff freeing the up for front line duty.

Made no reference to women being unsuitable. That's your invention in a poor attempt at slanting what I said
 
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Sue Ellen said:
As he says, he went through 18 months of interviews etc. with a highly visible tattoo on his hand and no one objected then. He is now left with no job
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Seems it's not unusual for trainees to leave temporarily to have visible tattoos removed. He had one on his neck removed, so he was aware of the rules. This individual may well make a super Garda, but part of me also wonders whether we really need another who thinks the rules don't apply to them.
 
I really do not like tattoos at all. I do not believe that professional people should have visible tattoos in any profession.
I hate them on sports people too by the way. My opinion, of course .
 
Leo said:
Seems it's not unusual for trainees to leave temporarily to have visible tattoos removed.
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But as it says in that article, that will take up to a year and with laser treatment being so costly and him out of a job not much chance of that happening. They should have sorted it while he was going through the interview process which the article says took about 18 months which included multiple assessments and interviews.

With the stress and risks involved in the job, the money starting off is low I don't know why anyone would go for it.
 
Sue Ellen said:
But as it says in that article, that will take up to a year and with laser treatment being so costly and him out of a job not much chance of that happening. They should have sorted it while he was going through the interview process which the article says took about 18 months which included multiple assessments and interviews.
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We only know one side of the story, why did he think it would be acceptable to wear a glove at all times when there are strict rules on uniform? Did he try to hide it or tell them he was going to have it removed? He knew the rules, so why didn't he have it removed prior to applying when we was in his previous employment?

Sue Ellen said:
With the stress and risks involved in the job, the money starting off is low I don't know why anyone would go for it.
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Agreed.
 
Here are the rules copied from AGS

"Body Art (Tattoos) on the face, or visible above the collar, are not permitted. All other tattoos will be covered at all times while on duty, whether in uniform or plain clothes."
The media "forgot" to include the sentence in bold when they stated the rules on tattoos. - Another example of selective quoting the news media are too fond of.

So unless he was planning to wear a glove, the rules are fairly straightforward and easy to understand. The same wordign is also in the Garda application form.

On Pay - this is a lot better than the GRA would make you believe. The starting salary is €33k plus plenty of allowances and substantial well paid overtime if you wish. You also start climbing the pay scale fairly quickly and within 8 years your basic is over €52k on top of good holidays (34 days inc public holiday)

Age 32 with 8 years experience and willing to do some overtime and you'll be well over 60k. That's decent.
 
Leo said:
We only know one side of the story, why did he think it would be acceptable to wear a glove at all times when there are strict rules on uniform?
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peemac said:
All other tattoos will be covered at all times while on duty, whether in uniform or plain clothes."
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peemac said:
So unless he was planning to wear a glove
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The article says:

'It was on this basis that he believed he would be complying with the code if he were to wear a cover on his hand while on duty, hiding the image'

and he probably does not want to remove it because:

'The man got the tattoo of a lion as a tribute to his now five-year-old son who bravely fought a rare kidney disease which required the child to undergo extensive hospital treatment during the Covid pandemic.

The would-be garda previously had a tattoo on his neck removed as he was aware of the subject of tattoos in the garda uniform and dress code'

“All other tattoos will be covered at all times while on duty, whether in uniform or plain clothes.”
 
Knuttell said:
Hate to disagree, standards have been slipping for years, height, weight, beards and what's next hand and face tats? They look unprofessional and messy. No place in a professional police force.
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joer said:
I really do not like tattoos at all. I do not believe that professional people should have visible tattoos in any profession.
I hate them on sports people too by the way. My opinion, of course .
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I think there are big benefits to having members of the force who reflect the population they serve, especially community gardaí. If you have a tattoo and you see a garda with a tattoo you might be more likely to see them as a human being, listen to them, and treat them with respect. That's how you prevent and deal with crime on a local level. And if tattoos are more common in a particular part of Dublin then these rules might stop someone from that area from joining the gardaí - big missed opportunity.

Ceist Beag said:
You stated you believe we should have more prisons and more prisoners to deal with the Gotham style thuggery on the streets (your words not mine) but you don't want the gardai dealing with such thuggery to have a tattoo on their hand!
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This is exactly it - we are demanding more gardaí on the streets risking their lives to protect us but apparently only if they have unblemished skin...! We should not be putting up arbitrary and (literally) superficial barriers to anyone willing to serve their country.

Leo said:
Seems it's not unusual for trainees to leave temporarily to have visible tattoos removed. He had one on his neck removed, so he was aware of the rules. This individual may well make a super Garda, but part of me also wonders whether we really need another who thinks the rules don't apply to them.
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If the rules are ridiculous I would prefer a garda who has the brains and nerve to challenge them.
 
Settling for second best is not something I
ever entertain/ed, that culture of "shur it'll do " is now pretty much rooted in the Irish psyche, its a cancer of laziness and second/third best will do that's reduced numerous civil/public service depts to barely functioning.
It's high time people refuse to accept second best and demand premium service for their tax euro.
No I do not want to deal with someone in a public facing role covered in tatoos. In my mind these people are not people I'd deal with either socially or professionally and certainly do not want to ever have to interact with a Garda with face/neck/hand tattoos.I wouldn't hire them so why should the State.
 
Knuttell said:
Settling for second best is not something I
ever entertain/ed, that culture of "shur it'll do " is now pretty much rooted in the Irish psyche, its a cancer of laziness and second/third best will do that's reduced numerous civil/public service depts to barely functioning.
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Apart from (some people) not liking the appearance of tattoos in what way are they 2nd best?

It's much lazier to write people off based on something as trivial as ink on skin.

Look at this officer from NZ who has a face tattoo:
Māori woman Brenda Lee first Queensland police officer to have moko kauae

She mentions in articles how it helps her connect with the people she serves.

And if the Kiwis can survive with 95% of new recuits tattooed then we Irish must be real snowflakes altogether.
 
Please point me on the direction of an employer happy to employ an individual with love hate tattooed on their knuckles or a dot/spiderweb/ anchor on their face for a customer facing role and I'll show you a fool.

Thats how simple it is.

I will not buy from any company that employs a rep with prison tats or equivalent or indeed any tats.

Their poor judgment marks them as an unreliable partner even before I hear the pitch.

Maori culture? mixing oranges with apples there.
 
If the rules for becoming a Garda said no tattoos then that is the rule , no matter who you are.
 
I'm not a lover of tattoos at any time. But, preventing people joining the gardaí because of them seems stupid. One warning I'd give to anybody getting a dolphin tattooed to one's body can lead to that dolphin turning into a whale in a few years.
 
arbitron said:
If the rules are ridiculous I would prefer a garda who has the brains and nerve to challenge them.
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Some Gardai think they own the road and can do what they like endangering members of the public in the process, others think that it's OK to harass or beat minorities, some even think it's OK to collude with serious criminals. I'd prefer Gardai who understood authority and the chain of command and didn't pick and choose what rules applied to them.

Now, I do think the rule is outdated and a bit ridiculous at this stage, but this person knew the rules going in, but just thought they could get away with it. I think our Gardai should be better than that. I'm all for changing ridiculous rules, but there's a proper way of doing so in a democracy.

Sue Ellen said:
'It was on this basis that he believed he would be complying with the code if he were to wear a cover on his hand while on duty, hiding the image'
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He was aware of the rules but wasn't aware that they stipulate only Garda issue black leather gloves can be worn on the hands and then only in prescribed situations.
 
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