WHEN GARDA Ger Feeney retired from the Gardai at the end of December it marked the end of a career spanning 30 years.

In this interview with The Echo, he reflects on his time in the force and talks about the way policing has changed down through the years.

Ger joined the Gardai on May 30, 1984, and was first stationed in Enfield, Co. Meath, in November of that year.

He arrived in New Ross in 1987 and spent his entire career since then within the town and district and in 2006 he transferred to Ballycullane Garda Station where he remained until his retirement in December.

Originally from Abbeyside in Waterford he is intrinsically linked with the community in New Ross and his involvement with New Ross Celtic A.F.C., since 2001, means he is very well known and respected by people of all ages throughout the town.

An active sports enthusiast Ger is also a talented basketball coach and was instrumental in setting up the New Ross Bullets in 1991. The club achieved a good degree of regional success too.

While admitting to The Echo that his decision to retire only came about within the last year-and-a-half he said changes in the working hours of Gardai was instrumental in him deciding to end his career.

“There has been a big change in working hours and there have been operational changes to the way the job is done,” he said.

“I suppose for me it’s not an enjoyable job to be in at the moment and that prompted me to make my decision,” he added.

He went on to comment: “I think the community aspect has gone out of the Gardai and that’s a pity; I think that’s in part because of a lack of resources but also because of changes in policy.”

With regard to increased regulations and administrative changes Ger said: “There is way too much red tape now, in my opinion. It’s getting more about dotting the ‘I’s and crossing the ‘T’s than serving the people in the traditional sense and that’s why we joined in the first place.”

He said some of the changes initiated from high within the force were not to his liking and highlighted the fact that the UN regarded the Irish police force as being among the most best trained in Europe.

Perhaps, it was indicative of someone who had only just retired from a job he spent 30 years doing but it was noticeable that Ger kept referring to the job in the present tense.

He said it was unfair the way Gardai were hit with ‘severe’ wage cuts while having an increased workload in terms of paperwork.

“Wages have been cut in half and it seemed that as our wages dropped we were being opened up to being torn asunder but other public sector people were not as open to scrutiny,” he said.

Though now officially retired he has no plans to rest on his laurels and between coaching basketball in schools and training underage soccer with New Ross Celtic his diary remains very full on a daily basis.

However, as he said himself: “Retirement is great really. I’m getting to do something I really love doing with the sport and that’s something I love it’s not like a job. I don’t agree with some of the changes in policing but it was a job I loved doing. Serving the community is something I was proud to do.”

(For the full interview see this week’s print edition of the New Ross Echo)