The approach has already been adopted by police services in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
An Garda Síochána has announced that it is to allow the wearing of the turban for members of the Sikh community and the hijab for members of the Muslim community as part of the Garda uniform from now on.
On Thursday, while announcing a recruitment drive that aims to increase the number of Gardaí from just over 14,000 presently (14,161) to 15,000 by 2021, An Garda Síochána revealed that the wearing of hijabs and turbans will be permitted in order to encourage candidates from minority communities.
An Garda Síochána said that it will consider alterations to the Garda uniform to take account of religious and ethnic requirements subject to operational and health and safety obligations, having identified such matters “as a major barrier to some people considering becoming a Garda member” up to this point.
An Garda Síochána will update its uniform policy to reflect this change.
The approach is in line with that adopted by police services such as the PSNI, Police Scotland, New Zealand Police, NYPD, and other police services in UK, Australia and Canada.
Commenting on the move, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said: “We hope that this will encourage people from minority communities to join An Garda Síochána. We want to demonstrate to them that An Garda Síochána is an inclusive employer that is serious about becoming more diverse.”
An Garda Síochána is also carrying out research with communities who are under-represented in An Garda Síochána to identify what more the organisation needs to do to encourage them to join An Garda Síochána either as a Garda member, Garda staff or Garda reserve.
Potential Garda trainee candidates can apply here until 3pm on 24 April.
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