Trike | Patrol - Irish

They flee. The white van spins gravel and disappears down a lane that leads to the N59. Byrne doesn’t chase. The trike is fast—0 to 100 km/h in 4.5 seconds—but it is not a pursuit vehicle on a straight road. Its purpose is to be present . To be seen . To be the immovable object that disrupts the flow of crime.

The rain doesn’t fall in Ireland; it materialises. One moment you are dry, a creature of the tarmac; the next, the Atlantic has decided to reclaim the bitumen, and you are a moving part of the mist. For the members of the Rannóg Patróil Trírothach —the Trike Patrol Unit of the Garda Síochána—this is not a nuisance. It is the primary texture of the job. Trike Patrol - Irish

Author’s Note: This piece draws on real tactics used by rural Garda units, including the use of modified trikes for surveillance in difficult terrain, though the specific unit depicted is fictional. They flee

Byrne pulls up ten feet from the van. He does not get off the trike. He is a monument. The trike’s engine idles, a deep, guttural promise. Aoife is recording everything. The trike is fast—0 to 100 km/h in 4

He spits on the ground. "Tik-tok, lads," he mutters to his crew. "Into the van."