Garda station closures leave county exposed

Large swathes of County Galway are without a Garda presence leading to fears of a crime wave in rural areas.

New figures obtained by The Connacht Tribune reveal that 16 rural Garda stations in Galway are either closed or are technically opened but are not manned by a Garda.

As well as the nine Garda stations that were shut in 2012 and 2013, there are a further seven Garda stations in Galway with no Garda.  And a senior member of the Force has confirmed that the Galway Garda Division needs an additional 40 Gardaí in order for the city and county to have its adequate level of personnel.

Supt Tom Curley has confirmed to Galway East TD, Anne Rabbitte, that the seven stations in the county that are without a Garda are: Kiltormer, Kilconnell, Ardrahan, Milltown, Corofin, Recess and Rosmuc.

That is in addition to the nine stations that were shut down some years ago, including Ballymoe, Corrandulla, Kilchreest, Kilcolgan, Kilconly, Kiltullagh, Leenane, New Inn and Tynagh.

In 2017, An Garda Síochána instigated a ‘pilot scheme to reopen six Garda stations’ but none of them were in Galway; and one was in the Dublin constituency of the Minister Shane Ross, who had lobbied for its inclusion.

Deputy Rabbitte said the Western Region was the only one in the country that didn’t have a station identified for re-opening.

She said Fine Gael – the self-styled law-and-order party – was failing County Galway in Government by neglecting to adequately staff Garda stations in rural areas here.

“We have nine Garda stations closed and we have another seven that are unmanned – this is not good enough,” said Deputy Rabbitte.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.