GARDAI are threatening to refuse to report for duty at the overcrowded and rundown Clondalkin station in west Dublin.
A motion to "parade for duty" at other stations in the L District, which has probably the worst crime levels in the State, is to be discussed by local gardai.
About 50 gardai at Clondalkin, all of them members of the Garda Federation, have been angered by a decision taken by Garda management and the Department of Justice to exclude their representative from a meeting yesterday to discuss plans for a new station there.
The federation representative, Garda Christy Murray, was asked to leave the meeting in Clondalkin yesterday morning between local Garda representatives, Garda management and a Department official. The federation represents all but three officers of garda rank in Clondalkin.
Garda Murray agreed to leave the meeting after being told that it would be abandoned if he stayed, but he registered a protest that the vast majority of gardai at the station were not being represented. There are about 2,500 Garda Federation members, most of them based in Dublin.
The incident has sparked considerable anger among the local gardai, who are among the most hard pressed in the State. Clondalkin station officers were almost all involved in quelling the riots in neighbouring Gallanstown last Halloween.
The station was built before the urban sprawl reached out beyond Clondalkin and was designed to accommodate about 12 gardai. There are now more than 60 offices attached to the station and there is a severe shortage of facilities.
There are no shower facilities for women gardai and corridors and rooms are cluttered with lockers. Local officers point out that gardai wear their coats indoors and have to leave the oven door open in the small kitchen for heat at night. The windows have been sealed to preserve warmth. A steel rope is provided in place of a fire escape from the first floor rooms.
Conditions in the station have been the cause of annoyance for years and it had been hoped that a new station would be built this year. However, the new station is expected to be delayed because of the recently announced expenditure on additional prison places.
The Minister for Justice, Ms Owen, is to bring legislation before the Government next week for the creation of an entirely new Garda representative body.