Mounting fears that Salthill Garda station will soon face the axe got a reprieve this week, with a dramatic U-turn decision on closing the busy barracks at night.
Councillors, TDs and senators attending a sitting of Galway City Council’s Joint Policing Committee on Monday were shocked by Galway’s police chief’s announcement that from November, the Dalysfort Road station would close to the public nightly from 10pm to 7am.
The decision was made by Garda management based on two years of figures showing very little public office business in Salthill at night, and to free up uniformed members for patrol duties. Local politicians from a range of parties voiced immediate fears the nighttime closure was the latest in a series of perceived “downgrades” of Salthill Station, leading to its ultimate closure.
But less than 24 hours later, Chief Superintendent Gerry Roche dramatically reversed his decision, telling the Advertiser he would first await conclusion of ongoing negotiations between the Garda Commissioner and Garda representative bodies over a rostering dispute.
“After talking with my senior management team, the decision has been made to postpone the [nighttime] closure in Salthill until the negotiations are over,” Ch Supt Roche told the Advertiser. “We’ll be postponing the closure until April 1. If there is a change in the roster coming from these negotiations; we’ll review again.”
The dispute centres on a move by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to return his officers’ roster to its pre-Pandemic format of six days on, and four days off, on November 6 – the same day Salthill was to close at night.
Last week, an interim agreement between Garda reps and top brass was hammered out, temporarily averting proposed industrial action referred to as ‘the Drew flu’ in reference to the 1998 ‘Blue flu’ when 5,000 Gardaí called in sick on May Day in a dispute over pay and conditions.
Moycullen-based senator, Seán Kyne (FG ) said he will be inviting Justice Minister Helen McEntee to the Seanad next month to discuss policing resources for Galway. With fears surrounding Salthill’s future, he is calling for a new station serving Galway City’s western suburbs and Connemara. Currently Garda activities in Connemara are coordinated by Oranmore barracks; and were previously overseen by Salthill.
“Knocknacarra is the obvious location for a dedicated garda station for Connemara. It has a large and growing population itself which warrants a presence, and it doesn’t make sense for Connemara’s policing to be coordinated from Oranmore on the wrong [eastern] side of the Corrib.”
Independent Knocknacarra-based city councillor Donal Lyons commended his constituency colleague Niáll McNelis (Lab ) for tabling JPC questions on Salthill Garda Station which led to the current developments being revealed. Speaking to the Advertiser before the Salthill closure U-turn, Councillor Lyons took a long-term view.
“There were around 60 guards working from Salthill ten years ago, now it’s down to 30. Salthill’s officer-in-charge was downgraded from Superintendent to Inspector. We lost five detectives to Mill Street, and now Salthill is closing to the public at night. I feel that by stealth the station’s status is being reduced, despite assurances we received last year. This gradual withdrawl of services, bit-by-bit, is a trend in the public service before closure. The people of the city’s west ward deserve better.”
As Chairperson of Galway City JPC, Councillor McNelis confirmed that following his questions on rostering, there will now be “ongoing conversations with Garda management about proposals for changing public office hours in Renmore [Murrough], Oranmore and Salthill”, he said.
“If senior guards are saying that taking officers off extremely quiet public counters at nighttime means they can send out more patrols; that’s excellent. I just want to ensure that we keep those officers local, so they are patrolling Knocknacarra and Salthill, and not sent elsewhere.”
Cllr McNelis hit back at calls for a new Garda Station for Knocknacarra. “That’s just playing politics. Yes! I’d love a purpose-built station for around here, but I’m a realist. We need to hold on to what we have, and get the best out of it. It’s easy to grab headlines, or just ‘give out’ about things. Our lack of Garda resources is another indicator of the current government’s lack of investment in infrastructure.”
Ch Supt Roche: “If I can take just one uniformed member off the desk at night it means I can have a second car – or even just one car – on patrol in that area that night. I want to reemphasise that Salthill will not be closing. Only the Commissioner can make that decision, and I won’t be recommending it.”
Salthill Garda Station currently has one inspector, five sergeants, 25 gardaí, and two civilian staff. Built as ‘Forster Park’ in 1850, it was a private house with gardens and tennis courts until converted to a Garda Barracks in 1934.
“Maybe there will be proposals to government to build a new station,” says Ch Supt Roche. “That could take ten years. I can’t support that because we have fine stations now in Mill Street, Salthill and elsewhere. Moving the specialised units into the new HQ in Murrough has freed up the space these stations badly needed.”
