GRA backs plan to sell off rural garda stations

THE Garda Representative Association says it will support the sell-off of rural stations to developers, provided the deal assures that gardaí are not removed from such areas.

GRA General Secretary PJ Stone said the plan made sense, as long as developers were forced to build new smaller units, to accommodate gardaí who policed rural areas of the country.

“Some of the accommodation at present is absolutely desperate, and to spend huge sums of money upgrading it would be foolish in the extreme,” Mr Stone said.

He said as long as there were no stealth measures to downgrade the garda presence in rural areas, the GRA would support the initiative, which is being proposed by Minister Tom Parlon.

He said the minister’s proposal was very practical but repeated the warning, that if the measures led to any closures, they would be opposed. “The public won’t buy it either,” Stone added.

Reducing opening hours at garda stations in country areas has been bitterly opposed by local people, who are concerned that more resources are being put into policing urban areas, at their expense.

A number of garda stations in rural parts of Tipperary and Limerick have already been earmarked for sale by the OPW, during an audit of state assets. Up to 200 stations could eventually be sold off, as part of the plan to gain millions of euro for the exchequer.

It is likely that the properties will be put out to tender, and the successful developers will be asked to build small one-room units onsite, or build a nearby station for gardaí.

Some older stations are literally falling apart at the seams, and have caused gardaí health and safety concerns. Many of these stations are two storey buildings with far more space than is needed.

Gardaí only spend a few hours each week in rural stations, mostly for administrative purposes.

Selling them off, and using the proceeds to build more modern, smaller units, is seen as the best option by the force’s 12,000 members.

A confidential report, carried out by accountants Deloitte & Touche, concluded that many of these stations should be closed altogether, but acknowledged that proposing to do so would generate a very adverse reaction from the public.

The Department of Justice is understood to have agreed to the sell-offs, and the OPW is awaiting final approval from Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy.

It is believed that some larger stations in urban areas could also be advertised, including Tallaght which is one of the biggest in Dublin. The value of that property would easily generate enough money to build a new station on a green field site.

The OPW wants to extend the sale or redevelopment scheme to other ageing state-owned properties. These could include the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum.