Minister evasive on Galway Garda hours

The Minister for Justice is refusing to give details about opening times of Galway Garda stations – primarily in Connemara – leading to accusations of mass closures by stealth.

Minister Frances Fitzgerald was forced into a major climbdown this week, and admitted that she provided false information to Galway West Éamon Ó Cuív regarding the opening times of rural Garda stations in Galway.

Despite initially claiming that Garda stations, with the exceptions of Clifden, Salthill, Oughterard and An Cheathrú Rua, are open each weekday between 10am and 1pm, Minister Fitzgerald has conceded that this is not, in fact, the case.

However, she has refused to confirm the actual opening times of the stations, leading to further accusations from Fianna Fáil Deputy Ó Cuív that she is closing stations by stealth; and that there is a “mass closure” of rural Garda stations.

“I have been raising this issue consistently with the Justice Minister and up until this point she has been giving totally misleading and inaccurate information, which has been put on the record of the Dáil,” said Deputy Ó Cuív.

“She has refused to give the information requested and continues to evade the basic issue, which is that many rural Garda stations across Galway are effectively closed.

“It has taken a series of Parliamentary Questions and questions in the Dáil for the Minister to finally admit that the information she had originally provided was incorrect,” he added.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.