Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Garda Síochana (literally peace guard) is the national police service of the Republic of Ireland. It was established after the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, taking over the functions of the Royal Irish Constabulary and the Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP). In Northern Ireland the police force was called the Royal Ulster Constabulary until 2001, when it was replaced by the Police Service of Northern Ireland. The service is also known as Gardaí (or in spoken English as 'the Guards'). A woman officer is known as a ban garda (woman guard). External Link Garda Síochana This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.