The Garda Survivors Support Association is a group dedicated to helping surviving families rebuild their lives after experiencing the trauma of a loved one's death during service. The GSSA aims to ensure that survivors: Spouses, children, loved ones and colleagues, have the help they need to cope with such a tragedy and remain part of wider Garda family. GSSA is essentially "survivors" helping "survivors". Only a survivor can fully understand the loss that another survivor is enduring and that shared experience, is the basis for our peer support programme.


The Association aims to build a network of survivors around the country, establishing the capability of having a survivor available to new survivors locally and immediately. The extent of the help provided will be at the discretion of the new survivor. Sometimes an understanding listener is needed. To this end, we are endeavouring to create a national network of survivors, who will be able to assist other survivors in a supportive way. There will also be occasions when more practical help is required and the GSSA will be able to put survivors in touch with those who truly understand. The GSSA is independent of An Garda Síochana and is operated entirely by survivors, caring for others in a similar position and supported and assisted by friends of survivors.