The different travel restrictions on either side of the border have undermined the principles of law of and order in Ireland, according to the Garda Representative Association.

The Government yesterday announced stricter restrictions on international passengers arriving in Ireland.

The proposals will see people who fail to self-isolate on arrival facing prosecution.

Meanwhile, passengers arriving without a negative coronavirus test will have to isolate for 14 days in hotels at their own expense, as will passengers from ‘high-risk area’ like brazil and South Africa.

People travelling into the State via Northern Ireland will face the same requirements.

On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, GRA Vice President Brendan O’Connor said Gardaí need powers to enforce the restrictions across the board – regardless of whether people live in the North or the Republic.

“We have a bit of lead-in now while this is being rolled out so we are asking for a very comprehensive and straight forward plan so our members know exactly what is required of them, the public know exactly what they have to do and there will be no confusion,” he said.

“It is very important going forward, particularly on the border, that any legislative provisions that are introduce apply equally across the board to any member of the public we encounter wherever their permanent residence may be.

“Because the situation heretofore, where you have gardaí on checkpoints, two cars approach and different rules apply to different people, that is really unsustainable going forward. It did cause some difficulty and reduced the effectiveness of our operations.

“Some of our members felt that it impeded on the professionalism and also, it undermined some of the confidence people would have because those who were resident were seeing one rule applied to them and another rule applied to others.

“So, it just seemed slightly unfair and kind of breached the principles you would expect for law and order.”

Border

He said Gardaí do not have the manpower to prevent people crossing the border.

“In the run-up to Brexit, Garda management undertook research to see what it would take to man the main crossing points 24 hours a day – that is not even all crossing points,” he said.

“It was estimated that it would take personnel in the region of 2,000 people. As you can imagine, we don’t have those personnel in the border region.

“Gardaí across the country are quite stretched dealing with the pandemic, so it is not as if we can transfer people up.

“Even if we could, accommodation would be difficult. So, it is going to be up to Gardaí on the border really to step up and maybe do a bit more.

“I can’t say what the plan is but I would imagine it will be some sort of rolling or random checks and checkpoints.”

Self-isolation

He said Gardaí do not have powers to check if people are self-isolating in their own homes.

“I don’t want to speculate whether we will be entering homes,” he said. “That is huge step as regards the violation of someone’s Constitutional rights.

“Gardaí up and down the country every day of the week are checking on court orders which put similar restrictions on people so sometimes it is a matter of just calling to the house, knocking on the door, speaking to someone and seeing if they are there and in compliance with the court order.”

He called for Gardaí to moved up the vaccine priority list if they are going to be checking whether people are self-isolating.

You can listen back here: