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A new Garda report says the force’s National Diversity Unit took part in European initiatives aimed at combating “hate speech” and “hate crime” during 2025, while also expanding cultural awareness training across the organisation.
The details are contained in An Garda Síochána’s newly published Annual Report for 2025, which outlines the force’s policing priorities and operational activity over the past year. Alongside its diversity programmes, the report also details counter-terrorism operations, people smuggling investigations, human trafficking cases, organised crime seizures and increased deportations.
Among the report’s listed “Key Achievements in the Delivery of the Policing Plan 2025” is the rollout of Cultural and Diversity Awareness training, with 36% of Garda personnel completing the programme by the end of the year.
It also states that a new Garda Diversity Strategy covering the period from 2026 to 2029 is currently in development.
The report says the Garda National Diversity Unit supports “inclusive policing and engagement with diverse communities across the State.”
According to the report, members of the unit attended Pride events, cultural festivals and engaged with refugees, international protection applicants and minority communities during 2025.
It also says the unit participated in national and international initiatives focused on hate crime and discrimination.
“The Unit also participated in national and international initiatives addressing hate crime and discrimination, including the EU High Level Group on Combating Hate Speech and Hate Crime, and delivered workshops to Garda Diversity Officers focusing on hate crime awareness and investigation,” the report states.
The report also highlights efforts to increase diversity within the force.
Chairman of the Garda Authority Dr. Donal de Buitléir said one of the year’s achievements was “enhanced recruitment processes to increase the number of Garda members with added diversity”, alongside the nationwide rollout of the Garda Operating Model and the deployment of additional high-visibility foot patrols.
The annual report also outlines initiatives undertaken by the An Garda Síochána Women’s Network during 2025.
According to the report, these included a masterclass titled “Breaking Through Barriers: Empowering Women to go for Promotion in An Garda Síochána”, a conference entitled “A1 – What the future holds”, and the annual Women’s Network National Conference under the theme “Empowering Voices, Inspiring Futures”.
It also notes that the network participated in the fourth Conference of the Network of Women in the Police of the Republic of Serbia, adding that Garda menopause guidelines generated “significant discussion” during the event.
Elsewhere, the report highlights a relative increase in the number of people removed from the State.
According to the figures, 367 people were removed under deportation orders during 2025.
The number removed under EU removal orders rose from 18 to 50, while voluntary returns increased from 934 to 1,591.
The report also details Operation Moonridge, which targets serious sexual offenders and domestic violence offenders.
It states that 25 sex offenders were removed from the State during 2025, including 14 third-country nationals deported under deportation orders and 11 EU nationals made subject to exclusion periods.
Another initiative, Operation Honeygate, was established to identify and disrupt organised crime groups involved in people smuggling through Dublin Airport.
The report also outlines the work of the Garda Special Detective Unit (SDU), which Commissioner Justin Kelly said marked its centenary during 2025.
“We also celebrated 100 years of the existence of the Special Detective Unit and its important work in protecting the security of the State by investigating and preventing terrorist activity,” Kelly said.
The report states that the international security environment remains influenced by “transnational terrorism, violent political extremism, state-on-state conflict and the activity of hostile state actors.”
It says the SDU continued its role as Ireland’s National Counter Terrorism Investigation Unit during 2025, disrupting terrorist activity and violent extremism through intelligence-led operations, searches, arrests and prosecutions.
The report states that the unit also monitored hostile state actors and individuals suspected of involvement in foreign conflicts, while working with the PSNI and UK agencies on cross-border operations targeting terrorist threats and dissident republican activity.
It further notes that the SDU continued security screening of refugees under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme and enforced the EU Terrorist Content Online Regulations, which involve removing terrorist content from online platforms in cooperation with Europol and other European law enforcement agencies.
The report also states that specialist investigators continued to identify an increasing use of cryptocurrencies in terrorist financing investigations.
Separate sections of the report describe work undertaken by the Emergency Response Unit, which carried out high-risk operations leading to arrests and the seizure of firearms and explosives, while also providing close protection during more than 100 high-risk VIP visits to Ireland.
The International Co-ordination Unit also continued work on EU-funded projects relating to cyber threats, counter-terrorism and critical communications.
The Human Trafficking Investigation and Co-ordination Unit identified 114 potential victims of human trafficking during 2025, representing a 70% increase compared with the previous year.
The report details one investigation in which a suspect was charged with two offences of trafficking a person and one attempted human trafficking offence.
It also outlines an investigation into an Irish-based Brazilian organised crime group linked to brothel keeping, money laundering, and possession of child pornography, resulting in one individual receiving a 10-year prison sentence.
Meanwhile, the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau reported seizing illegal drugs worth €126 million during 2025, contributing to a total of €744 million in drugs seized since 2015.
The report also notes that the Garda Dog Unit and Mounted Unit were deployed during anti-immigration protests at the Citywest Complex in Dublin in October. According to the report, mounted officers assisted with crowd dispersal.
The latest report follows previous Garda announcements outlining an increased emphasis on diversity initiatives within the organisation. Earlier this year, Gript reported that Garda leadership had introduced cultural awareness and bias-related training for personnel, though they refused to release the content of this.
Meanwhile separate figures released by the Justice Minister showed there were 536 Garda Diversity Officers in 2025 compared with 81 staff assigned to the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau.
Over 6 times more “diversity” Gardaí than cybercrime officers
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