The recruitment of gardaí for a new armed support unit to deal with the recent spate of gangland violence in Dublin was held up due to a row over push-ups during fitness tests.

The new unit was set up by the Government in response to the flurry of killings in the capital since Gary Hutch was shot dead in Spain last September.

The incident led to a feud between international drug trafficker Christy Kinahan and the Hutch family, which has ties to serious criminality. There have been seven murders in connection with the feud to date.

Speaking in April, Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan said the new armed Regional Support Unit for Dublin would have its 55 members in place and be operational by June – but the unit has yet to be deployed.

It is understood hundreds of officers applied for a place on the unit, and that a dispute over the physical fitness test delayed proceedings.

The test involved officers carrying out a specific number of push-ups. Some officers completed the requisite number, a number of others did substantially more and some failed altogether.

The officers who carried out extra push-ups are understood to have been selected to move on to the next phase of the selection process.

Candidates who stopped after reaching the requisite number complained that they had carried out what was asked of them, and that they would have continued with the push-ups if asked to do so.

The Garda Representative Association threatened to injunct Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan in the High Court in the event the process proceeded.

The matter was resolved when all officers who completed the requisite number of push-ups were admitted to the next phase of the process.