The Garda Water Unit ( ga, Aonad Uisce an Gharda Síochána) is a unit of the Garda Síochána, the police service of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Formerly known as the Garda Sub-Aqua Unit, the name was changed to incorporate the services of the non-diving surfaced based marine section. It is part of the Operational Support Units which provides specialist support to Gardaí nationwide. The Operational Support Units also includes the Dog Support, Mounted Support and

Air Support In military tactics, close air support (CAS) is defined as air action such as air strikes by fixed or rotary-winged aircraft against hostile targets near friendly forces and require detailed integration of each air mission with fire and movemen ...

Operations

The Water Unit exists to assist the Garda Síochána in both

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

and surface operations. Diving operations include searching for and recovery of missing persons and evidence, conducting security searches in water and in confined spaces e.g. sewers. The unit also conduct surface patrols which encompass

maritime safety Maritime safety as part of and overlapping with water safety is concerned with the protection of life (search and rescue) and property through regulation, management and technology development of all forms of waterborne transportation. The execut ...

, maritime legislation enforcement and security patrols. The approximate strength of the unit is three sergeants and fourteen officers, who cover the entire jurisdiction of the Republic of Ireland. The unit operate out of

Santry Santry () is a suburb on the northside of Dublin, Ireland, bordering Coolock, Glasnevin, Kilmore and Ballymun. It straddles the boundary of Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council jurisdictions. The character of the area has changed ...

Garda Station,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, and Athlone Garda Station,

Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = , subdivis ...

Training

The environments where the Garda Water Unit members carry out their duties are potentially life-threatening. Training of team members is thorough and on-going. Members must successfully complete courses in the following areas: *Breathing Apparatus and Escape sets (Confined Space Searches) *ISA Advanced Powerboat

Coxswain The coxswain ( , or ) is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. The etymology of the word gives a literal meaning of "boat servant" since it comes from ''cock'', referring to the cockboat, a type of ship's boa ...

*Firearms familiarisation & safe handling *Evidence handling & recovery *Garda Driving courses Members can further specialise in: dive supervision, underwater photography, climbing & rope skills, equipment servicing, and

Sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on o ...

operating.

Equipment

350px, Garda Patrol Boat ''Colm na Cora'' on the Liffey The Garda Water Unit employ a mixture of fifteen different types of water-borne vessels, mostly inflatable boats. Two however are river-going vessels used for inland patrols.

Inter-agency operations

The Garda Water Unit cross-trains with the other Garda Operational Support Units. It also carries out operations and exercises with a number of agencies such as the Irish Coastguard, the Irish Customs Service, the Irish Naval Service ( NSDS), the Fire Brigade and the Civil Defence. This type of multi-agency training improves operational skills and provides an opportunity to improve response times and capabilities.

References

External links

Official site
Water Unit Maritime law enforcement agencies {{ireland-stub