Mother-of-six bound for Buncrana given special mention following Garda attestation

Mother-of-six Lisa-Marie Fitzgerald was among the 120 Gardaí who were attested as sworn members of An Garda Síochána on Friday. 

The new garda will now take on operational responsibilities and will be allocated in Buncrana, one of 18 recruits for the North Western Region, which is made up of Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim.

Garda Lisa-Marie was joined by five of her children at the Garda College as she passed out and will be stationed in Buncrana. She was commended by the official Garda Síochána social media channels.

“The training to become a Garda is rigorous and the commitment it requires to complete is next to none - that’s why behind every Garda are their loved ones just as devoted to their duties,” An Garda Síochána posted. “Among those newly attested at the Garda College yesterday was Garda Lisa-Marie Fitzgerald.

"Garda Fitzgerald came to pursue her career in policing driven by her will to help keep the people of Ireland safe, while also raising her six children. Her eldest couldn’t make yesterday’s attestation as he is currently completing his Leaving Certificate, but we know must be very proud of his Mam.

“There was a point in history when women were prohibited from joining Ireland’s Police and Security Service - Garda Fitzgerald is one of the many strong women in An Garda Síochána who are proving the importance of their leadership and place in policing.

“Look out for Lisa-Marie when she takes up her role in Buncrana Garda Station in the coming two weeks, and do wish her well in her career.”

The newly attested 120 members of An Garda Síochána were recruited as part of the 2022/ 2023 recruitment campaigns. The other allocations are Dublin Region 74; Eastern Region  17 and Southern Region 11.

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The new Gardaí commenced their Garda training in September 2024 and have undertaken a blend of online learning, onsite learning in the Garda College, and experiential learning in training Garda stations.

There were 89 male and 31 female from the new members, 22 of which were born outside the State – Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Croatia, England, India, Italy, Moldova, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Northern Ireland. One probationer was a former Reserve Garda.

The force now has 14,318 sworn Gardaí, 3,680 Garda staff and 298 Garda Reserves. A further 359 Garda recruits are currently undergoing the training programme at the Garda College. The next intake of Garda recruits, an intake of 252, is scheduled to enter the Garda College on Monday.