‘Lack of community guard is a big loss’

The country’s longest serving garda would love to see the force return to closer contact with the community.

Garda Martin O’Malley, who retires this week after 38 years in the same station, said: “The lack of the community guard is a big loss, definitely. They now try to treat the Garda Síochána as a business instead of as a service to the people.”

Villagers in Ballintra, Co Donegal, are planning a huge party for him in their local community centre on Friday, his retirement day.

Ballintra has so far avoided the axe of Alan Shatter, the justice minister, who is due to close 31 stations.

Garda O’Malley is one of a declining number of rural gardaí in the force who live within the community where they work. Many newer recruits have to drive up to 80km to work.

“Part of the reason for that would be declining property values,” he said. “People are more inclined to stay in the same homes and drive to work rather than sell their houses.”

Up until 1996, Garda O’Malley’s only official transport was a bicycle, before he was given a Ford Fiesta for the job. When he wasn’t walking the main street in Ballintra where he lives close to the garda station, Garda O’Malley, 59, would hop on his bicycle to help solve the problems of the community in the surrounding countryside.

Callers to the station might occasionally be offered a cuppa and a biscuit as he listened to their troubles. It might not always have been garda business but Martin O’Malley was prepared to help if he could.

When one woman complained that her new washing machine wouldn’t work he learned it was similar to his own at home.

So he went 3km-4km to the woman’s house to see if he could do something. He did, when he spotted the problem. He said: “I suggested to her it might be a good idea to plug it into the socket.”

A Mayo native, Garda O’Malley spent only six months in his first station, Ballyshannon, before he was transferred 10km up the road in Feb 1974, to the two-officer Ballintra station. He has been there ever since.

Garda O’Malley could have retired on a full pension eight years ago but he wasn’t interested.

He said: “I enjoyed the job. I wanted to give more to the community.”

Ballintra plans to show him on Friday just how much it appreciates what he gave.