I've been seeing a lot of this quote recently: US police killed more people in March than UK did in 20th century; and it made me wonder how many deaths, if any, have been attributed to the Gardaí.
I would also like to ask how accurate the claim that UK police only killed 52 people in the 20th century is?
I assume these figures refer to firearms related deaths rather than all deaths caused by police. This in itself is slightly unfair to the US - since British police aren't routinely armed, when they do kill someone through deliberate or reckless behaviour it's less likely to be by shooting them. Deaths in custody averaged around 60 a year in the 1990s (according to Inquest - generally higher estimates than the official figures).
I've been unable to find any statistics for the UK going back earlier than 1990. However the figures suggest that 52 people over the course of the 20th century is plausible. Inquest give a figure of seven people shot and killed by police in England & Wales during the 90s. This only covers England & Wales, but the numbers for Scotland are likely to be small. Generally over the course of the 20th century, firearms became more available to police forces and their use more professional. (See this timeline for some more detail - though note that its listing of firearms incidents is not comprehensive.)
Note that this does not include Northern Ireland. According to a University of Ulster database, the Royal Ulster Constabulary is killed 55 people during the troubles, while the British Army killed 297. (Presumably the majority of these were firearms deaths.)
The quote on the UK police is certainly inaccurate as the Royal Ulster Constabulary killed 55 people between 1969-1994. It might be more accurate for Britain alone.
The Gardaí have used armed units although ordinary garda are not armed. There have been some killings but the statistics are hard to tabulate.
A significant controversy emerged in the early 1970s over a rise in deaths and alleged mistreatment in Garda custody.