Noonan looking forward to new challenge in Trim

Supt Martina Noonan, who has recently taken up the reins in Trim Garda Station, has an impressive record in both urban and rural settings.

She has experience of policing crime, community policing, domestic violence and human trafficking and was instrumental in the Implementing of Change project, which has modernised Irish policing.

She has joined Trim from Navan where she was inspector and is looking forward to the challenge ahead in Trim

“I an enjoying Trim and I am delighted with the increased personnel we have – which means we can better police the community and serve the public.

Martina Noonan is a native of Ballylander in Co Limerick but left home at 17 to pursue Garda studies in Blackrock and then in 1993 she was stationed in Harcourt Terrace for her first posting.

“I loved Dublin, it was everything I thought it would be,” she said.

“Policing was different then, compared to what we have now. It was more community based. I spent a number of years in community policing and in crime and plain clothes.”

“The biggest difference between policing in the country and in cities is that you are able to get to know people better in the country.”

Supt Noonan was promoted to Sergeant in 2000 and stationed in Dunmore East in Co Waterford. She was the first female sergeant in a small station in Waterford and spent 18 months there.

She then travelled to Bosnia to work with a UN mission.

“I dealt with a lot of domestic violence and human tafficking here and trained local police on how to deal with them.”

Despite the hard work, she loved Bosnia. “It is a beautiful country.”

When she returned, she was stationed in Kevin Street in Dublin and after three years stationed there, she moved to Garda HQ in the Phoenix Park and while there, she got married to a fellow garda.

In Garda Headquarters, she was involved in developing and implementing strategies for the Implementation of Change project.

“I was involved in linking the Pulse system to the court service and the introduction of the new finger print system. I spent five years there and came to Navan as an Inspector in 2010.”

Coming to Navan in a higher management role didn't daunt her. “Having worked within the four walls of Garda Headquarters I had a good grasp of the structures and technology needed for the jobs.

“I was happy in Navan. It served me well and I made very good friends from both a policing perspective and in outside agencies.

Supt Noonan is looking forward to the times ahead in Trim where, like the rest of the country, gardai are currently serving the community well in these strange times of Covid-19. She replaces Supt Yvonne Murphy who has moved to Ashbourne Garda station.

“People in general are abiding by the regulations and taking the advice of the gardai. There may be the odd issue, but in general it is working well,” she says.