Uniformed gardaí are being issued with Taser guns as part of a six-month trial.

It has long been a point of pride in Ireland that the police force are not armed unlike their European counterparts. And while these guns fire electric shocks and not bullets, this is change in how the gardaí police the streets.

So does this move bring closer the day when the Garda will be an armed force? How will it change the way the gardaí interact with the public? And why now?

Irish Times crime and security editor Conor Lally explains.

Presented by Bernice Harrison. Produced by Suzanne Brennan. 

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