The army may take to the streets during the planned Garda strikes

Will we see soldiers in the streets?

Public Expenditure Minster Pascal Donohue has not rule out the possibility of soldiers being placed on the streets during the planned strikes by Gardaí this Friday. Speaking on RTÉ’s This Week, Donohue declined to say the army would not be called in, although he did say that there will be contingencies in place for both the planned Garda and teacher strikes this month. But, he did stress that he would prefer a solution to be found in the negotiations prior to that saying: “we’re putting all our energy into ensuring those plans are not needed." “To be very clear with you," Minister Donohue said, "no matter how advanced or substantive our contingency plans are, there’s nothing that can take the place of over 12,000 gardaí being active and doing their work. "The broad point here is that we do not need An Garda Siochána going on strike on Friday for us to realise how special they are to our country. They make an enormous contribution everyday to the safety of Ireland." His comments came as the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) officials met with officials from the Department of Justice and the Department of Public Expenditure in talks to sort out the pay dispute. Officials from the DOJ and DPE are to meet with the Garda Representative Association (GRA), with use of services from the Workplace Relations Commission. Minister Donohue said that Gardaí have been offered a “substantial arrangements and a package” in a bid to avoid strike action this Friday but contingency plans will be escalated if there's no breakthrough in talks.