Out west, past Galway, where the map frays into a fringe of limestone and bog, the standard patrol car is a liability. The roads have no shoulders. The hedgerows lean in like whispering conspirators. A saloon car is too wide, too slow to turn, too blind to the dips and rises. The Trike—a modified Can-Am Spyder, stripped of its touring comforts, painted in the deep blue and day-glo yellow of the force—is a scalpel where the patrol car is a hammer.
There is a derelict shellfish processing plant here. Corrugated iron, broken windows, a smell of rot. The trike rolls to a stop behind a stack of pallets. Byrne cuts the engine. The silence rushes back in. Trike Patrol - Irish
Byrne thumbs the starter. The Rotax 1,330cc triple-cylinder engine fires with a muted thrum . He keeps the revs low. The trike has a feature the car lacks: a stealth mode. At idle, with the LED running lights dimmed, the vehicle is nearly invisible. The wide front track gives it stability on the cambered verge. He pulls off the tarmac and onto a gravel track that leads toward the pier. Out west, past Galway, where the map frays