asked the Minister for Justice whether it is proposed to build a new Garda Síochána barracks in Waterford City, and, if so, when.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Garda Síochána Stations.
Proposals for the erection of a new Garda Station at Waterford are at present under consideration. I am not yet in a position to state when it will be possible to commence the work but I will inform the Deputy as soon as a decision is reached.
asked the Minister for Justice whether it was decided to close the Garda Síochána station at Clonmellon, and whether the decision was subsequently postponed as a result of local representations; whether the stations at Leitrim, Drumsna and Strandhill have been closed and whether a protest was made against the closing of any of them; and in what respect the circumstances in the case of Clonmellon differ from the other three.
Whenever it is proposed to close any station representations to have the station kept open are invariably received from some of the local inhabitants. These representations are always carefully considered and, to enable this to be done, the closing of the station is deferred pending a final decision, if necessary, but not otherwise. That is what happened in the case of the proposal to close the station at Clonmellon as also in the case of the proposal to close the station at Strandhill. In the case of the stations at Leitrim and Drumsna a decision was reached before the appointed date and there was therefore no need to postpone the closing of these stations.
Can the Minister state when a decision was arrived at to close the stations at Strandhill and Drumsna?
It was recommended by the Commissioner and it was decided to close the station in Strandhill in October, 1953, and the Minister postponed the closing from April, 1954, for 12 months. Drumsna was closed on 19th August, 1953, as it is only four miles from Carrick-on-Shannon.
I can assure the Minister I am not a bit interested whether they are closed or not, but I have a letter here from some Fine Gael supporters stating they were promised that the barracks would remain open.
Who closed them?
Under the Fianna Fáil régime one would want to have barracks in every hole and corner in the country.