McDowell to sell old garda stations

OUTDATED garda stations will be closed and sold to pay for the cost of building new stations, Justice Minister Michael McDowell said yesterday.

Stations close to each other like Dublin's Mountjoy, Fitzgibbon Street and Store Street may be amalgamated while new stations will be built in areas with growing populations.

Mr McDowell said there was a consensus that a 21st century police force could not be run on the basis of 19th century organisation.