Childhood pals graduate together as gardai

Two lifelong friends and neighbours who grew up together in Dunshaughlin recently graduated from the Garda Training College in Templemore, on the same day.

John Salmon and Katelyn Doherty played together as children, went to each other’s birthday parties and both always said they wanted to be guards when they grew up.

John's parents, Cora and Philip moved into Coldricks Pass in Dunshaughlin in 2005 and the Doherty family lived just a few doors away in the same estate. Katelyn and John immediately hit it off and were great friends as children. Although almost the same age,

Katelyn (23) was a year ahead of John at school and they both attended Dunshaughlin NS and then Dunshaughlin Community College.

"We spent all day, every day all summer out on the green playing. There was a group of us who all played together. Myself and John always wanted to join the guards and spoke about it from a young age," recalled Katelyn.

John also remembers playing out of the green and photos of them both with his old cowboy guns playing together. When she finished school, Katelyn worked in childcare and other jobs while she waited for An Garda Siochana to start recruiting again and thanks to the Covid pandemic, she had a longer wait than she anticipated.

John finished school the following year in 2020- the year the students didn't sit the Leaving Cert because of Covid and instead were given their grades based on continuous assessment. He decided to do a course in Dunboyne College in Criminology as he waited for the guards.

"I thought it would give me some insight into the legistative aspect. When Covid hit they weren't recruiting so I decided to do that course and then did one as a personal trainer and coach," said John.

As soon as recruitment opened for An Garda Siochana, John and Katelyn applied.

It is lengthy process and Katelyn said there are so many intakes that they couldn't believe when they ended up on the same one.

Both had had also worn glasses and got laser surgery done to correct their eyesight during the process.

"There are so many intakes and it is such a lengthy process so we thought not a chance we would up on the same intake but by pure coincidence we did," said Katelyn.

Katelyn and John passed out on 28th June, a proud day for both of them and their families.

Katelyn was alwarded the Commissioner's Medal after achieving the highest academic grade from their intake group.

They were both assigned to different stations in North Dublin where they will spend the next 18 months as probationer gardai.