{"id":411820,"date":"2026-02-06T21:39:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T21:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/411820\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T21:39:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T21:39:08","slug":"recruit-who-lost-10-5-stone-to-pass-fitness-tests-achieves-big-ambition-of-becoming-garda-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/411820\/","title":{"rendered":"Recruit who lost 10.5 stone to pass fitness tests achieves \u2018big ambition\u2019 of becoming garda \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the newest members of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na<\/a>, Conor Finan, lost 10.5 stone before his efforts to join the force were successful. The 38-year-old Co Wicklow<\/a> man said he had applied on numerous occasions over the past 18 years.<\/p>\n

During most of those efforts, he failed the fitness test. The only time he passed, he was ruled out when he undertook the medical examination. <\/p>\n

But on Friday the former undertaker from Blessington was among a class of 167 recruits who passed out at the Garda College in Templemore, Co Tipperary<\/a>. He will soon be based at Tallaght<\/a> Garda station in west Dublin.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has always been a big ambition of mine,\u201d he said. \u201cI applied four or five times before. I have a long journey behind me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BeforeBefore and after shots of Garda Conor Finan, who embarked on a fitness journey to join the force, running the Dublin Marathon last year <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve also lost the 10-and-a-half stone over the last three years. It\u2019s been an incredible journey and the fitness guys here [at the Garda College] know me by first name at this stage. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been through the system a few times. But I got past every point last year and I got in, thankfully.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked how he lost so much weight, he said he followed a diet of 1,800 calories per day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also ran the Dublin City Marathon last year so I think that was the natural progression of the weight drop. I just needed to be conscious [of losing weight] because I always wanted to join the guards. That was the motivation that kept me going over the whole weight-loss process.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"GardaGarda Conor Finan is a former firefighter and undertaker. ‘It\u2019s about community service. I\u2019m passionate about it.’ Picture: Enda O’Dowd <\/p>\n

He is now looking forward to a diverse range of experiences when he takes up his post.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a mixed background,\u201d he explained. \u201cI started off doing media and communications in Carlow IT a good few years back, then I joined Wicklow Fire Service for a number of years and I also worked as an undertaker.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Second Garda college may not be effective in boosting force numbers, Sinn F\u00e9in saysOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

He said he believes dealing with people in challenging situations, including when their loved ones have died, has given him an insight into the general public, which he believes will now aid his work in the Garda.<\/p>\n

Finan was effectively granted another chance of realising his ambition when the upper age limit for new recruits was increased from 35 to 50 in 2024, meaning he was eligible once again.<\/p>\n

\u201cAge doesn\u2019t really make a massive difference down here,\u201d he said of the training. \u201cThere\u2019s guys in their late 30s, mid-40s … as long as you\u2019re fit and healthy you can get through all the challenges here. This is something I have always wanted to do. It\u2019s about community service. I\u2019m passionate about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of the 167 recruits who passed out at the Garda College on Friday, 104 are being posted to the Dublin Region, 31 to the Eastern Region, 21 to the Southern Region and 11 to the North Western Region. Their passing out brings overall membership of the Garda to 14,564.<\/p>\n

A further 410 Garda recruits are currently training at the Garda College and are due to pass out in coming months, while a new intake, of up to 215, will begin training next Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the newest members of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, Conor Finan, lost 10.5 stone before his efforts to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":411821,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[6647,152695,102,152696,22153,56,54,55,68469],"class_list":{"0":"post-411820","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-fitness","9":"tag-garda-siochana","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-tallaght","12":"tag-tipperary","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom","16":"tag-wicklow"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}