Communities unite to fight threat to rural Garda stations

Date Published: 19-Oct-2011

Communities across the county are mobilising forces in a desperate effort to try and save at least 20 small Garda stations across rural County Galway that are for the chop early next year as part of radical cost saving measures being introduced by the Department of Justice.

The Department then intends to sell off these properties as part of a revenue generating exercise – although they could hardly choose as worse a time to sell property and it is difficult to establish who would be interested in acquiring small Garda stations, many in need of major refurbishment and moderisation.

There have already been protests over the threats to Garda Stations in Letterfrack, Carna and Roundstone in particular, but it is clear that the cuts will be of a much bigger scale and will have a huge impact on rural communities.

It has been claimed that any attempt to close down rural Garda stations would leave communities open to attack. Attacks by roaming gangs of criminals from Dublin have been experienced in the east side of the county in recent years.

It is understood that the Department are targeting Garda stations where there is just one member of the force attached. These would include the likes of Roundstone, Letterfrack, Leenane, Recess, Rosmuc, Inverin, Leitir Moir, Corofin, Barnaderg, Kilconly, Milltown and Ballymoe.

The guards in these areas would then be transferred to bigger Garda stations in their area but it is a move that is set to be resisted by local communities.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.