Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA ) rural development chairman, John Barron, has warned of the potential uproar in rural Ireland should the Government close as many as 200 Garda stations.
It is reported that Minister for Justice, Equality, and Defence Alan Shatter has plans to close almost a quarter of the country’s 700 Garda stations with rural Ireland set to bear the brunt of the closures.
“You cannot put a price on the safety and the peace of mind that is created with the presence of a member of An Garda Síochána in the locality,” Mr Barron said. “Closing down 200 Garda stations in rural Ireland will simply add to the current levels of anxiety created from an increase of burglaries throughout the country in the past 12 months. This is simply another case of rural Ireland being an easy target.
“The removal of nearly a quarter of the country’s Garda stations, with the majority of them being in the countryside, will simply create a platform for opportunistic criminals to take advantage of the isolation in rural Ireland,” he warned. “This will take away the ability of gardaí to quickly respond to a call. Rural Ireland will be seething if such closures are to happen and we are warning the Minister to carefully consider all the outcomes of such measures.”
