Donegal would not stand the test of a three-county Garda division, County Councillor Gerry McMonagle has warned.
Cllr Gerry McMonagle, the Chair of the Joint Policing Committee in Donegal, expressed serious concerns to the council this week over Donegal joining with Sligo and Leitrim to form one Garda Division. The amalgamation was proposed by Commissioner Drew Harris during a visit to Donegal in January.
Cllr McMonagle yesterday called on Donegal County Council to write to the Garda Commissioner, the Minister for Justice and the policing authority on the issue.
He said that Donegal, given its size, would not stand the test of a three county division, losing one of its Superintendent and having its central base ‘more likely in Sligo, than in Letterkenny’.
“We have 1100 km of coastline, and if any evidence is needed for the dangers that posed, we have last week when €4 million worth of cocaine washed up on several beaches,” Cllr McMonagle told the council.
He added that there are serious concerns among gardaí that there isn’t sufficient gardaí while recruitment goals are not being met.
“We have a situation where we don’t have the gardaí necessary to patrol our streets,” he said, while many rural stations in villages are either closed or partly open.
“There is a lot of concern out there, I’ve been asked to bring this forward from JPC members,” he said.
Donegal County Council is now set to request that the Commissioner withdraws the proposal to connect Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim as one Garda Division
