Village residents lament the loss of their garda station

PEOPLE in the Shannon Estuary village of Ballylongford yesterday described the closure of their local Garda station as another serious blow to a small community.

Ballylongford has had a garda presence for as long as locals can remember, while Moyvane, also in north Kerry, and An Clochan, in the Dingle Peninsula, are other Kerry Garda stations to be closed down because of budget cutbacks.

While Ballylongford, about 13km from Listowel, has not had a full-time officer for many years, the local station has been opened for limited periods each week which gave people access to a garda.