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Gardai move in with Council
02.03.10
by Linda McGrory
DONEGAL County Council is giving a temporary home to
Gardai who have been left without a station in
Inishowen.
The Council yesterday opened its doors to the force
in Carndonagh who have had to move out of their old
station for refurbishment works.
The unique deal was reached on Friday after local
councillors and community workers expressed concern
that the town would be left without essential Garda
cover.
It was initially agreed the displaced officers would
work out of two sister stations several miles away
in Malin and Clonmany. But after local objections,
Garda chiefs requested permission from Donegal
County Council for temporary use of one of their
offices, located just yards from the existing
station, in Carndonagh Public Services Centre. The
new office opened to the public yesterday and is
expected to be in use for the next three months from
Monday to Friday, 10am to 3pm. |
"This is a public
office as distinct from a station but the public can
still call in for all their usual enquiries to
Gardai including passport applications, motor tax
and lottery permits. And the telephone number
remains the same," said a garda spokesperson.
Local Fianna Fáil councillor, Charlie McConalogue |
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welcomed the deal
reached by the authorities on behalf of the
Carndonagh public.
"I would like to thank Garda Superintendant William
Johnston and Donegal County Council area manager
Eunan Kelly for their work in achieving this
conclusion," said Cllr McConalogue. He also welcomed
the appointment of a new Garda Sergeant, Bernard
Gilroy, to Carndonagh, bringing the number of
sergeants attached to the station to two. He said he
hoped the appointment would reassure people locally
that there would be no dilution of policing services
in the town during the refurbishment.
However, Councillor Pádraig MacLochlainn slated
recent developments and hit out at “four years of
broken promises”.
“Four years ago, then Government TD., Cecilia
Keaveney announced she had received confirmation of
a 24-hour Garda cover for North Inishowen in a new
station based in Carndonagh. This was welcomed by
all and followed a number of spates of crime across
the peninsula," said the Sinn Féin councillor.
“It is clear that Carndonagh is being badly failed
by this Government. First the closure of Carndonagh
Courthouse and now a portable cabin in place of a new
24-hour Garda station. The time for guff is long
over. The people of Carndonagh and North Inishowen
want straight answers," he said.
Meanwhile, Senator Cecilia Keaveney said she was
furious that €175,000 was being spent on interim
measures for Carndonagh Garda accommodation when
just a little more would pay for a permanent
solution.
"I am informed that there is little prospect of
anything substantive happening on the new (Carndonagh)
Garda station in the immediate term, as it has not
been prioritised by Garda Housing," she said.
"I am simply furious at this as I have been
approached by a number of people offering other
permanent solutions. I have passed those solutions
to Minister Martin Manseragh and Minister Dermot
Ahern and Gardai at local and national level. The
solutions that I had offered were both inexpensive
and had a capacity to service the needs of North
Inishowen into the future," she added. Carn Gardai
can be contacted on the existing number, 93 74109. |
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