Gardaí plan walk-out over station conditions

Cormac O’Keeffe

The 75 gardaí at Finglas Garda Station, in Dublin, will refuse to work in the station from March 1.

“The staff are at the end of their tether. They are not prepared to take it any longer,” an Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) spokesman said.

AGSI made the decision to walk out in conjunction with the Garda Representative Association (GRA), which represents rank and file gardaí.

GRA president Dermot O’Donnell said conditions in the station were “totally and utterly unsuitable.”

“The gardaí do not have simple, basic facilities there. They have no room to take someone who wants to make a statement in confidence or a traumatised victim of crime.”

The 75-year-old building, a single-storey bungalow with a two-storey extension, has been earmarked for major renovation for decades.

“The staff associations have been fighting for a new station for Finglas for at least 20 years and have been fobbed off with one excuse after another down those years,” the AGSI spokesman said.

He said Finglas was one of busiest stations in what has become the busiest division in Dublin.

“They’ve had 10 to 12 murder investigations out there in the last five years, yet they don’t have a conference room to carry out a murder investigation.”

He said staff were recently told that they were also going to have to make a room available for a CCTV system for the area.

The staff will report for duty at Cabra Garda Station on March 1.

A spokesman for Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy said: “The commissioner is concerned about conditions at Finglas Garda Station and has directed that the matter be progressed.”

He said meetings were being held between the Garda Housing Section, the Office of Public Works and the Department of Justice.

“We are satisfied progress will be made in the short term.”