Donegal Sinn Féin TDs, Pádraig Mac Lochlainn and Pearse Doherty have written to the Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter, demanding that he does not sign off on the closure of any Garda station without consultation.
The TDs told donegaldaily.com that Mr Shatter must consult Joint Policing Committees, local communities and community organisations including community alert committees, parish councils and representative groups for the elderly or disabled in each affected community are consulted with and have the opportunity to make their case for the station’s retention.
There has been widespread speculation that a number of garda stations across Donegal will be closed after Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan completes his review of how best to utilise garda resources massively reduced by govermment cut backs.
In their joint statement, the TDs said: “We are very concerned about the suggestion that some garda stations will close and the impact on the communities that they have historically served.
“Donegal is a very challenging county to police and we are aware that the gardaí have faced increasing pressures over recent times due to government cut backs and a reduction in their numbers.”
MacLochlainn and Doherty pointed out that the mission statement of An Garda Síochána is “Working with Communities to Protect and Serve”.
They went on: “A real partnership between the garda and the local communities they serve is vital. That is the driving principle behind Joint Policing Committees for example.
“We are therefore deeply alarmed that this review does not appear to have a consultation process to facilitate submissions from JPCs, local communities and community organisations including community alert committees, parish councils and representative groups for the elderly or disabled.
“We now demand that Minister Shatter does not sign off on the closure of any garda station until the above organisations in each affected community are consulted with and have the opportunity to make their case for the station’s retention. We have both written to the minister and the Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan, outlining our serious concerns.”
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