The Garda Commissioner, Noel Conroy, has revealed that almost 200 people from ethnic minority backgrounds have successfully come through the first phase of selection in the latest Garda recruitment campaign.
The 200 will now face interviews and a medical test before any are selected for entrance to the force in January next year.
The recruitment drive is partly aimed at attracting applications from members of ethnic minorities. Around 640 out of 8000 applicants were not from an Irish background.
Mr Conroy was speaking at the launch of a new cross-border training programme for police on dealing with changes in communities that have become more diverse.
The joint programme, assisted by EU funding, has been launched to give police a better understanding of the communities they serve.
1,200 PSNI and Garda officers from border counties will take part in diversity awareness training over the next few months. The course is the latest example of the close co-operation between gardaí and the PSNI.
Mr Noel Conroy said the course was timely. The Vice-Chairman of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, Denis Bradley, said if the police got it right, it would hopefully act as a springboard for others as society North and South becomes more diverse.
