“There are certain words still part of the island dialect that I wouldn’t have come across because English is my first language,” Ó Cocláin explains. He is one of three Irish-speaking gardaí stationed on the island of Inis Mór. Ó Cocláin says it is “absolutely a must” for gardaí to be able to speak Irish if they are stationed in a Gaeltacht area. “The last time there were mounted police on the island was in 1911 when the RIC were stationed here,” Ó Cocláin says. Speaking at the time, Fianna Fáil TD Pat “the Cope” Gallagher, whose base is the Donegal Gaeltacht, said his priority was to get more guards into rural stations in his constituency and in the Gaeltacht.

Source: The Irish Times January 09, 2026 16:31 UTC