Gardaí: Closures will change DNA of policing in Ireland

The Garda Representative Association (GRA) has come out against the closure of 31 garda stations and reduced opening hours for a further 10, as announced by the Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin today.

The association said it is a solemn development in the structure of how they police Ireland.

They said it breaks up a network so carefully constructed in 1922 that survived the armed attacks of 1926 and has served the State well through the poverty of the 1930s, the emergency situation in the Second World War, the austerity of the 1950s, the economic desperation of the 1980s and several decades of the Troubles.

"But not, it seems, the post-boom economy of a modern European country," GRA President Damien McCarthy said.

Mr McCarthy said: "Some of the biggest crimes have been solved in the smallest stations. The garda station has always been at the heart of the community. Policing in this country has been from within the community, not imposed upon the community from outside. The local garda station is the physical embodiment of this principle. This principle is now threatened.

"To close the garda station in the community re-engineers the genetic code of policing in this country. The implications of such are that it will be harder to gather the information and intelligence that effective crime prevention, detection and investigation relies upon. Crimes become harder to solve.

"There is a palpable fear of crime in both the urban and rural areas, and the presence of the local gardaí is vital to protect the vulnerable and reassure the public. The closure of garda stations is not going to save a huge amount of money. Can we no longer afford to have a small building designated as a garda station? Is this how far we have come as a nation?"

Fianna Fáil Justice spokesperson Dara Calleary meanwhile described the policy as "completely flawed".

"Closing these stations makes no sense, economically or socially," said Deputy Calleary.

"However there will be a profound impact on the communities directly affected.

“I am particularly concerned that there is a rural bias in these closures. More than half of the stations being shut down are in the Connacht/Ulster region. This, along with to the severe reduction in funds for the community alert scheme, are a particular challenge for rural communities."