Ireland is great at 'out with the old' but falls down in ushering in the promised new land

To alleviate short-term distress when removing local services such as rural garda stations or emergency departments, promised replacements must arrive

The closure of 139 Garda stations in 2013 was seen as a blow to rural Ireland. Picture: Dan Linehan

Rural Garda stations haven’t gone away, you know. Well, some of them have — but the concept of rural stations as a political issue is alive and well. 

This week, in the Irish Examiner, Cormac O’Keeffe reported there are calls for more than 30 abandoned Garda stations to be reopened. These stations were closed as part of a rationalisation strategy in 2013 but are now lying idle.