New roster ‘robs’ rural Gardaí to plug gaps in urban areas

Date Published: 30-May-2012

The new rostering system introduced by the Gardaí three weeks ago will remove officers from rural parts of County Galway and effectively close smaller Garda stations down.

While Galway city and the main towns will be well served by Gardaí, the new system will result in a lesser presence in rural areas.

It has been claimed that the new rostering system is ‘robbing’ guards from the rural stations and moving them into the city and bigger towns.

And there are now fears that this will lead

to the closure of rural Garda stations by stealth – even without the Department of Justice implementing such moves.

The new rostering system has resulted in the creation of an additional Garda unit in each of the larger stations and this has had the effect of ‘mopping up’ officers from outlying rural stations.

The Department of Justice are now being asked to begin a programme of recruitment immediately so that rural areas can have a Garda presence into the future.

Galway West TD Noel Grealish said that it was the first time in the history of the state that no training was taking place and feared that rural communities would be left vulnerable to attacks well into the future.

A senior Garda source told The Connacht Tribune that members were being take from drugs units, outlying Garda stations while even Community Gardai were being drawn in to fill the new rostering, which involves much longer shifts for individual guards.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.