Garda Emergency Response Unit

Tactical armed responses to counter , subversion, insurgency and terrorism (including CBRNe)

serious crime

Execution of high-risk , warrants and arrests

searches

Hostage rescue, crisis negotiation, anti-hijacking operations, barricade incidents, , suicide bombers

active shooters

VIP close protection in Ireland and accompanying VIPs overseas

Irish government

surveillance, counterintelligence and undercover operations

Intelligence gathering

Assistance to the

Witness Security Programme

Provide specialist patrols and response via land, air and sea

Skills training and development

In January 1990, one of five armed criminals was killed by a team from the Garda Emergency Response Unit, during a hostage-taking at a bank in , County Kildare. Five raiders, each armed, from a prominent Dublin based criminal gang attempted to steal cash from the bank but had been followed by an undercover unit from the ERU, following a spate of violent robberies in the Greater Dublin Area. When the armed gang attempted to raid the bank, they were surrounded by ERU operatives, and resorted to taking staff, customers and passers-by hostage. An ERU marksman shot one gang member in the head from long range. Austin Higgins (26), who was on bail from robbery charges at the time, was fatally wounded. Eight people were injured during the incident, but all of the hostages were freed and survived. The remaining gang of four who were armed, but did not fire their weapons, were apprehended (two of whom were shot but survived) by Gardaí and later received 12-year prison sentences.^[32]

Athy

In July 1990, two armed bank robbers were shot dead by officers from the Emergency Response Unit, after they held staff and customers at gunpoint at a bank branch in , County Kildare. William Doyle (35) from Dublin and Thomas Wilson (39) from Northern Ireland made off with thousands of pounds in notes from the bank, and after the alarm was raised they were pursued in a high-speed chase by officers from the ERU. Gardaí forcibly ended the pursuit in Fairview, Dublin, and a shootout ensued, with the heavily armed ERU team fatally shooting both suspects without injury to any other party.^[33]

Leixlip

In June 1997, a member of the (INLA) terrorist organisation was shot by armed detectives from the Emergency Response Unit following a failed attempt to raid a newsagent in Inchicore, Dublin at gunpoint to raise funds for terrorist activities. John Morris (26) refused to drop the pistol he was carrying (later found to be unloaded), was shot in the head and back, and died in hospital the next day. His two accomplices were also apprehended without injury to anyone else.^[34]

Irish National Liberation Army

In May 1998, armed Gardaí attached to the Emergency Response Unit shot dead a member of the terrorist group, during an attempted robbery of a cash-in-transit van carrying £300,000 Irish pounds (€380,000 in Euro) in Ashford, County Wicklow.^[35] The gang of six had been under surveillance by a number of Garda units, including the National Surveillance Unit (NSU) and Special Detective Unit at the time. The armed raiders posed as county council workmen before blocking the road to stop the bank van. The gang was armed with an assault rifle, pump-action shotgun, revolver, imitation rocket launcher and an angle grinder. When the ERU moved in and foiled the robbery, 28-year-old Ronan McLoughlin was fatally shot by heavily armed ERU officers as he attempted to flee in a vehicle. 10 shots were fired by Gardaí, who had 25 firearms on the scene. Nobody else was shot. Five gang members were arrested and later found guilty of terrorism offences.^[36]

Real IRA

In April 2000 (See: ), the ERU was brought into the public spotlight after killing a 27-year-old man with a known mental disorder in controversial circumstances, following a 25-hour barricaded siege in Abbeylara, County Longford. John Carthy fired up to 7 shots from a legally held double-barreled shotgun, both at unarmed and armed Gardaí after a dispute with his family (he held no hostages). An ERU tactical team arrived from Dublin and took charge of the incident and attempted to negotiate with Carthy, but he repelled their attempts. After 25 hours, he exited his house through the front door with a loaded shotgun in his hands. He was repeatedly ordered at gunpoint to drop his weapon, but refused, and advanced towards the perimeter. Upon exiting his premises and walking towards the local town, he was shot four times by two ERU snipers (who fired two shots each) and died. No one else sustained injuries, although a police car was damaged by Carthy. The resulting Barr Tribunal was critical of the Gardaí, suggesting Carthy's life could have been preserved, however it found that the ERU team had acted within the law. The incident brought a number of changes in procedures when dealing with barricade incidents.^[37]

Death of John Carthy

In December 2001, Detective Sergeant John Eiffe – aged 40 from , County Meath – of the National Surveillance Unit was killed by a bullet ricochet by a colleague from the Emergency Response Unit during an operation to arrest four armed bank robbers in Abbeyleix, County Laois. The four men had been under surveillance by NSU detectives, and when they attempted to rob a bank, the NSU and ERU intervened. One of the men attempted to flee using his vehicle, and the sound of a tyre bursting led officers at the scene to believe they were being fired on by the armed robbers, causing them to open fire.^[38] It later transpired that although the criminals had been carrying firearms, they had not discharge them. Gardaí discharged all 3 shots. Another officer was also injured in the incident, but recovered.^[39]

Ratoath

In May 2005, ERU officers fatally shot two criminal raiders in , County Dublin during a pre-planned operation to foil an armed robbery of a post office. Colm Griffin (33) and Eric Hopkins (24) were both shot dead by a team of undercover detectives from the ERU, acting on intelligence that a four-man gang were going to raid the post office at gunpoint. Griffin was carrying a loaded pistol, which was not fired, and Hopkins a sledgehammer. Plainclothes officers, armed with concealed 9mm semi-automatic pistols, were lying in wait for the gang. When two gang members entered the post office and threatened staff and customers with weapons, the ERU officers pointed their guns at the pair and ordered them to drop their weapons. They did not, and both were fatally shot in the head at close range. Three shots were fired in total, all by Gardaí. Two other gang members were apprehended without incident. No one else sustained injuries.^[40] The operation was widely praised by the public and politicians, and saw a marked decrease in violent crime for a number of months in the aftermath. There was suspicion the raid was ordered as a fundraising attempt for dissident republicans.^[41]

Lusk

In May 2009, officers from the Emergency Response Unit were present when National Surveillance Unit detectives shot and killed an armed raider in , Dublin after he attempted to hold-up a cash-in-transit van. 27-year-old Gareth Molloy, who had previous criminal convictions, and his gang were under surveillance by the NSU for a number of weeks prior to the incident. Gardaí received intelligence that the gang were going to carry out a heist, and the NSU were backed up by the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NBCI), Organised Crime Unit (OCU) and ERU.^[42] When Molloy and a gang associate attempted to hold-up a cash delivery van at gunpoint and fired a shot in the air, NSU detectives intervened and ordered the armed raiders to drop their weapons. Gareth Molloy pointed a sawn-off shotgun in the direction of armed Gardaí and was immediately fired upon by NSU officers and was fatally wounded.^[43] His associate refused to drop his weapon, and was also shot, but survived with serious injuries. 5 shots were fired by Gardaí in total. No one else was hurt. Four other gang members were arrested, charged and jailed following a pursuit in the aftermath of the incident.^[44]

Lucan

In December 2017, a member of the ERU was shot as a tactical team breached a door with an angle grinder in an early morning raid at a property in Ballymun in Dublin, as part of an investigation into crack cocaine dealing. An 18-year-old man inside the property was then shot by ERU officers. Both men survived with "non-life-threatening" injuries. Three people were arrested inside the property.^[46]

[45]

(electroshock weapon)^[52]

Taser X26

^[53]

Bean bag rounds

^[53]

Stun grenade

^[54]

Pepper spray

^[53]

Pepper-spray projectile

(ARW)

Defence Forces Army Ranger Wing

Garda Síochána official website