Garda union calls for upgrade to emergency comms system

A GARDA union wants improvements to an emergency services communications network to make sure Ireland can cope with major storms and terror attacks.

- BY MICHAEL O'TOOLE

The annual conference of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors wants force management and the Office of Public Works to check every station's preparation for major disasters.

The call was made in the wake of Storm Eowyn in January, during which the main communications systems TETRA - used by emergency services - went down for a time.

It relies on electricity to function but the prolonged power cuts in the north and west of the country after the storm led to some areas of the network temporarily going down.