Establish if a person has a criminal record

This issue came up in conversation today with an ex colleague who cautioned me about any dealings I may have with a named 3rd party we both know, it was news to me but it appears this 3rd party has a conviction for assault, apart from asking a friendly Garda to check on Pulse ( which I will not do ) what options do I have to confirm this independently and apart from just asking as I may simply not get the truth in reply or never know if i did or did not get to the truth.

Should there be a central location with this information as a conviction is public record.

While the conviction may be a matter of public record, that record is not open to inspection, unless Garda Vetting is required. You could try Googling the name and looking up media reports if you have any idea of location or dates.

Is it really necessary to go to those lengths? What sort of dealings do you have with said individual? Trust your gut instinct. As regards asking him, I don't think that's a good idea - nothing good will come from that - whether he has previous or has not.

Conviction for assault ; as per serotoninsid depends on what sort of dealings you may have with him.
Eg if he is painting your house = ok.

There are plenty people who got convictions for things and in no way should they be shunned, in most cases they were just (twits) at that time.

I employed someone before with a criminal record.
He was recommended to me by someone I knew and trusted reasonably well.
I didn't let on that I knew anything about his conviction for about a fortnight, then I told him I knew about it.
He was young and fairly remorseful (about getting caught most probably).
We worked away grand together for a while, then he moved on to bigger and better things.