EU50: Retired Offaly Garda recalls getting familiar with the intricacies of the metric system

WHEN I saw the article in the Tribune requesting views on the changes that EU membership has impacted on our lives, I decided to pen a few lines on its impact on An Garda Síochana.

I arrived in Tullamore in April 1964 as a new member of An Garda Síochana. I quickly learned that measurement played a major part in the working life of a Garda.

The Imperial system of measurement is defined as a system of measuring items for length – yard, mass – ounce, volume – pint etc.

And it is this system, used in England to this very day, entered my life very soon after becoming a Garda. When I attended the scene of a traffic accident and had to construct a sketch of the scene miles, yards and inches came into play immediately.

When I was instructed to attend the accident scene I was given an Imperial measuring tape to record a sketch of the scene.

If a complaint was received at the station that a particular business premises had a faulty weighing scales I would be instructed to visit the premises and decide if the complaint was accurate. It must be remembered that at that time most grocery items were sold loose in brown paper bags. Even snuff was sold by the dram.

Public houses were not allowed to escape the eagle eye of the patrolling Garda as measurement played a large part in how the publican carried on his business. All pint and half-pint glasses had to be stamped with the legal quantity that the glasses held. The brass measure that the publican used for selling spirits had also to be stamped by the Weights and Measures Inspector.

Ireland had an unusual arrangement for the enforcement of the laws and regulations governing Imperial measurement. Probably coming from the former connection with England the Irish government made the laws and regulations governing measurement.

The equipment used to test the different items of measurement and the accommodation to store it was supplied by the local authority. The personnel to enforce the different laws and regulations was supplied by An Garda Síochana whose members had the title Inspector of Weights and Measures.

With the arrival of membership of the EEC, as the union was then called in 1973, the whole measuring system began to change on a gradual basis to the metric system. We now had to get used to new terms such as metres, grammes, litres etc.

The change had an immediate effect on the working life of a Garda.

No longer could be used the old reliable measurements of feet, yards and inches when a Garda was completing his traffic accident sketch. Centimetres and metres were a problem at the start and you now also had to look at the petrol pump to see if it was showing the correct amount of litres.

Even when the farmer took his cattle to the mart he was paid according to the weight of the animal in metric measures.

Many citizens protested at this imposition and the changes to their normal life but progress continued.

Similarly members of an Garda Síochana had to adapt to the new system. There are now many every day occurences which remind us that the metric system is in place. If you receive a notice in the post of a fine for exceeding the 100 kilometre speed limit you will blame yourself and not the metric system.

It is likely that there will be many more changes over the next 50 years inspired by the European Union but hopefully they will be for our benefit.

Michael Dalton, from Tullamore, is a retired member of An Garda Síochana and a published author of fiction and non-fiction works