The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has welcomed the Council of Europe decision to allow gardai go on strike and dismissed potential fears of a breakdown in security due to collective action form the police force.

The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors lodged a complaint with Europe in 2012 regarding their inability to strike, but the ruling was only made yesterday evening.

The ICTU says there is a common misunderstanding that international law requires countries to prohibit their police forces from taking part in trade union action. In fact, the inability of gardai to strike was found to be in contravention of an international agreement signed by the Irish government.

Legal Affairs Officer with ICTU, Esther Lynch, says blanket bans, such as apply in Ireland, represent a violation of rights. Lynch says even at times of action, essential services would continue.

“Lots of uniform services already have this right in Ireland and throughout Europe and we already have a code of practice that provides that essential still continue when members are undertaking collective action, so it would be wrong if there was a knee-jerk reaction to say, ‘Well, you know, this is going to be the end of national security.’ That's not the case, that’s not the experience, it’s not the experience elsewhere,” Lynch said.