The Garda Siochana has confirmed that there will be no deviation from the force's uniform to include such items as the kirpan, a knife-like instrument that Sikhs are required to carry for religious reasons..
It had been rumoured that the force had intimated to the Sikh community that recruits would be permitted to carry a kirpan, but a comprehensive statement released by the Garda press office appeared to dismiss the idea.
The statement, which came on the back of Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy's declared policy of not allowing the wearing “non-standard items of uniform,” read: “The Garda Commissioner has set the required standards of dress and behaviour for An Garda Síochána and these standards are binding on all members of the organisation.”
The statement continued, “The Garda Síochána has, historically, been seen as providing an impartial police service, policing all sections of society equally. By accommodating variations to our standard uniform and dress, including those with religious symbolism, may well affect that traditional stance and give an image of An Garda Síochána which the Commissioner feels the public would not want.”
A Garda spokesperson told Metro Eireann that the uniform could not be deviated from by anyone seeking to join the force: "What we're saying in relation to the whole thing is that we have a uniform as a requirement and anyone who is looking to work with us will have to conform to that at the moment."
Meanwhile, Sinn Fein has called on Minister of State for Integration Conor Lenihan to step down over the row. Dublin MEP Mary Lou McDonald said, "Minister Lenihan's remarks to the Sikh community, that it's our way or the highway, examples a level of ignorance more akin to the Ireland of the 1950s than the 21st century."
McDonald continued, "The fallout of the Government and gardaí decision to not support community cohesion, diversity, and tolerance of other cultures and faiths within its own ranks will only serve to deepen cultural divides."
She concluded, "Sinn Féin believes Minister Lenihan has evidenced during this continuing controversy that he is not up to the portfolio he has been given and should immediately resign from his position."
