An Garda Síochána in counties Clare and Tipperary are temporarily loaning a tractor to be used by Community Engagement Gardaí for road safety and farm safety training.
The New Holland T6.155 tractor marks the first ‘garda tractor’ to be used on the roads and has been loaned from WR Shaw Ltd in Tullamore, Co. Offaly to the garda fleet.
The New Holland tractor company said that it hopes the loan for the next few weeks “is of benefit to all”.
The tractor will be used for farm safety training through November and December in primary schools and to engage with the public by meeting farmers at local marts to speak about farm safety.
it will be brought to events for road safety, personal safety talks and property marking clinics that will be taking place, according to gardaí.
This follows on from the recently launched ‘Engage, Educate & Empower’ farm safety project by AgriKids and Irish Rural Link.
Co. Clare-based Garda sergeant Edel Burke Curtin is involved in the project and said that the tractor will be used to help engage with school children about farm safety.
“This is the first time a ‘garda tractor” has been driven on the road, and my colleagues and I are looking forward to taking it around Clare or Tipperary over the next few weeks. If you see it on the road give us a wave,” the sergeant said.
A new education manual has been launched by the groups to support primary school teachers with the tools needed to co-deliver a farm safety education programme in the classroom.
Funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine (DAFM) with additional funding from Flogas, the manual includes information on how teachers and members of the community can work together to co-deliver the programme.
The community led learning strategy has been collated with input from an advisory panel made up of members of An Garda Siochana, teachers, farmers, community development officers and farm accident survivors.