Gardaí criticise station closures

Rank and file gardaí have said they are determined to resist any further closures of Garda stations around the country and believe people in rural areas will oppose the plans.

The Garda Representative Association (GRA) believes it has the public’s support on the issue.

Speaking at the opening of the association’s annual delegate three-day conference in Athlone, Co Westmeath, GRA president Damien McCarthy said his members were already struggling to cope.

Morale was now at an all time low and would be exacerbated by the closure of 40 garda stations this year.

“In those communities that are going to be affected, I don’t for one second believe that they are going to sit idly by and sit on their hands and let such drastic decisions be taken without any consequence; I think the public are with us on that one,” Mr McCarthy said.

He believed Minister for Justice Alan Shatter needed to be aware that the high standard of policing provided by the Garda would be compromised by the station closures and that people’s lives would be impacted, particularly in rural Ireland.

"It’s going to contribute significantly to the fear of crime particularly amongst our senior citizens around the country."

He would use his conference address to Mr Shatter tomorrow to clearly outline the GRA's position on station closures. The association would then await a response but was not without options in resisting stations closures.

He also said the moratorium on recruitment was now having a major impact on the Garda. The force had gone through a period of expansion and significant reform in recent years yet in recent times the “professionalism and experience” of 2,000 Garda members had be lost in a short period and had not been replaced.

Promotional opportunities were very limited and even transfers into new units or positions elsewhere in the force at the same rank were also scarce.