Finglas Garda station open day

On the 23^rd of September 6^th classes from around Finglas went to visit Finglas Garda station for their open day. All classes arrived at different times.

The first thing we did when  we got there was go onto a Dublin bus and Alan (one of the bus drivers) talked to us a bout bus safety and vandalism.

We then went to a little table where they us all about CPR.

Next we went over to a huge table with weird sprays and equipment that Garda and Army men use. Army men also showed us a huge suit that they would use. It was a huge suit for bomb disposal and some of us even go to wear the helmet. It was really heavy.

Then we split into two groups and one group went into the truck first and the other group went to the robot.

The robot was a really cool robot that could pick up things! The army men said that they use the robot to pick up bombs or go into houses!

Some of us got to have a go of controlling the robot with the controller. We didn’t pick up bombs though, just traffic cones.

After that the other group wnet to the robot and my group went to the truck. The truk had lots of equipment in it but the most interesting thing was the screen and set of controls that controlled the robot. There is a camera on the robot so you can control the robot from inside the truck and see what’s happening.

We went into a van that had mini jail cells in it, it was very claustrophobic though. Another quick thing we did after that was look at some Garda vans and boats.

The Garda band had an orchestra where they blayed songs such as the Flintstone’s theme song and The Simpson’s theme song too.

After that they brought us to see jail cells. They did not look like a place you want to sleep in.

They also brought us to the interrogration room and told us about what kind of questions they’d ask and how long they’re allowed to kee a suspect in there.

Then Paul brought us to a room where they take fingerprints and a huge room where they take phone calls and have cameras. There was a huge monitor with tapes from all around Fingals.

The next thing they showed us was a room full of drugs. They told us about the results of taking them and that it can be very dangerous.

Then they brought us to a room outside where people that have just been interrogated can come out to cool off or exercise.

The last thing that we did was stay outside and two guards showed us what they wear for defence. They also showed us what they use to force open doors and what weapons they would have with them.

Just for fun the guards let us run at them with a bat! They also had a competition with Ms. Mc Mullen and another teacher from Mother of Divine Grace. The competition was which teacher can put on the most defence gear in 60 seconds. Ms. Mc Mullen won and the other teacher got sprayed with water!

This was a very fun day for all of us at Finglas Garda Station.