Gardaí welcome plans to replace 100-year-old station

PLANS to replace a garda station that is 100 years old and which has been condemned as archaic and unsafe has been welcomed by an organisation representing rank and file gardaí.

The Garda Representative Association (GRA) has been fighting for years, for a new garda station in Glanmire, Co Cork, and now there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel for the project.

Chief Superintendent Kieran McGann, who is in charge of policing in the area, confirmed a suitable alternative building has been identified in Glanmire and that the OPW through the chief state solicitor’s office are in the process of finalising its purchase.

Last May, the OPW placed advertisements in local and national media looking for suitable sites and buildings in the Glanmire area. In conjunction with garda management, the OPW decided to purchase a building in nearby Sallybrook which will be refitted to suit garda requirements.

“Gardaí agreed the layout and design of the building and have instructed the OPW to initiate planning (change of use) and tender procedures. We’re delighted with this development as conditions in the existing garda station are deplorable,” Chief Supt McGann said.

The current garda station in Glanmire village was originally an RIC barracks but was burnt out during the Civil War. It was later refurbished and gardaí moved in nearly 90 years ago.

The building is cramped and overcrowded with no showers or proper changing facilities and no private interview rooms. There is no wheelchair access and gardaí have to rely on the goodwill of businesses in a nearby industrial estate to park their patrol cars.

GRA deputy president John Parker said the signing off on the purchase of the Sallybrook building represented a “major milestone”.

“For years, my members have put up with a Victorian building which has archaic facilities and is unsafe. The facilities in the station are totally unsuitable for the public. The public is being very poorly served by the current facilities there,” Garda Parker said.

He said it should take very little work to refit the much larger building in Sallybrook.

“There is no proper parking for the gardaí and the public in the existing station, whereas there will be ample parking at the new building. There will also be wheelchair access,” the GRA official added.

It is hoped gardaí will be able to relocate to the new station by early next year.