GARDA MOUNTED UNIT
IN THE
SADDLE The Garda Mounted Support Unit may seem like a dream job, but it is a challenging one too, writes Adam Hyland.
“
I
t is easy to come to work when you love it,” Sergeant Brendan Duffy of the Mounted Support Unit tells me as he shows me around the grounds of their headquarters behind Áras an Uachtaráin in the Phoenix Park. “If you don’t enjoy working here, there is something wrong with you.”
That sentiment is echoed by Garda Laura Doolan, who is busy cleaning her horse Fiachra. “If I ever get bored with work, I just look at the bridle on the reins, which were originally used on the Guinness horses, and am reminded of the pride and the history connected to them. I also think about how much of a joy it is to work with horses every day. When my friends ask me why I like the job so much, I show them a picture on my phone that is the ‘view from my desk’.” Fiachra is a stunning white horse, and is enjoying the attention as we gather around him. “He’s not as tall as some of the others, but he looks like he is because he holds himself up very straight and high,” Laura says. “He’s got a real ego to him.” The beauty of the horses is reflected in their setting, a converted model farm that was gifted to the Unit in 2000 by then-President Mary McAleese, and Garda David Earley, who rides a huge brown horse called Donagh, shows us that everything the Unit needs to do its job can be found here, including stables, an equipment room, feed room, and on-site farrier room where Master Farrier John Boyne works his magic. “We were established in 1998 but moved up here when it was still under construction,” Sergeant Duffy tells me, “and we renovated the existing buildings and built new
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