Station closures 'broke link' with public, says Garda association
The former Garda Station building on MacCurtain Street in Cork city, which is one of six stations in the county that have been disposed of. File picture: Larry Cummins
Four out of 10 garda stations closed as part of austerity measures 10 years ago have been “disposed of”, with Cork and Clare bearing the brunt of the closures, new figures show.
But more than a quarter of the stations remain in Garda hands and are not in active use, with calls for them to be re-opened along with the six stations now operational again.
Official figures show that of the 139 garda stations closed under the 2012-2013 rationalisation programme:
- 59 have been “disposed of” on the open market or transferred to other state bodies;
- 28 remain and are “being prepared” for disposal or alternative use;
- Nine are “under consideration” or are required by An Garda Síochána;
Of the remainder: 10 are occupied by serving or retired gardaí; 10 are retained for alternative State use; eight are assigned for community use; six have re-opened or are planned for re-opening and nine were stations that were leased and have been surrendered.
The 59 stations that have been disposed of are across 21 counties, with the highest number in Cork (six), followed by Clare (five) and Kerry, Leitrim and Tipperary (four each).
The six in Cork are Goleen, Adrigole, Inchigeela, MacCurtain Street, Mallow Road and Meelin. The five in Clare are Carrigaholt, Inagh, Labasheeda, Doonbeg and Lahinch.
Garda Representative Association president Brendan O’Connor said:
He said the GRA opposed the policy, adding: “The experience of communities that rarely, if ever, see a Garda presence would suggest the concerns and predictions of our members were entirely correct.”
In addition, he said that many Garda stations that are officially still open have no permanent gardaí allocated.
“The feedback from our membership is that less Gardaí are covering greater geographical areas, providing a skeleton response service to communities,” he said.
Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central, Thomas Gould, said: “When these closures were announced, there were many local people extremely disappointed and worried. Garda stations on streets like MacCurtain street, one of the main thoroughfares in Cork city, allowed for a visible presence on the streets and helped people to feel safer.
“It is even more disappointing that almost 30 of these buildings are still owned by the Gardaí and haven’t been used in over a decade in some cases.”
He said his information was that a number of buildings that have been sold off are “still idle”, including MacCurtain Street.
Clare Independent TD Michael McNamara said: “The closure of Garda stations in Clare forms part of the systematic removal of vital community services from towns and villages across County Clare in recent years.”
He said 306 garda members were assigned to Clare last December, down from 314 at the end of 2020. He called for the “efficacy” of the strategy of station closures to be reviewed.
