Leo Varadkar has ruled out arming the Gardaí, U-turning on his previous support for such a policy. 

In November last year, the then-Tánaiste said if the Garda Commissioner were to ask him to arm the rank and file, he would "would absolutely say yes".

"I certainly wouldn't do anything to block that if he felt that was the right approach," Mr Varadkar said.

Amid much discussion about how to reduce crime in inner city Dublin, the Taoiseach said arming ordinary Gardaí was not part of the solution.

“I won’t be suggesting it,” he said.

“We do have the Emergency Response Unit which is armed and we do have Armed Response Units in every division, so there are a lot more Gardaí that are armed than was the case in the past - and that is necessary.

“Certainly, in my conversations with the Garda Commissioner and also rank and file Gardaí, one thing they’ve impressed on me since I gave those comments was that having an unarmed police force is something of real value.”

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar outside Government Buildings, 08-06-2023. Image: Sam Boal/RollingNews

An Garda Síochána is unusual in that its members do not ordinarily carry weapons; following the foundation of the Free State, the Cabinet decided not to arm the force on the grounds that any attacks on Gardaí by anti-Treaty republicans would be unpopular with members of the public.

Police in Britain, Norway, New Zealand and Iceland are also not usually armed.

Main image: Leo Varadkar with a member of An Garda Síochána. Picture by: Alamy.com