This article is from page 3 of the 2013-03-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
THE Garda hierarchy in Clare are in favour of proposals that would see two of the county’s largest Garda stations be closed at night.
Clare’s most senior Garda, Chief Superintendent John Kerin, said that he is 100 per cent behind closing Garda stations in Ennistymon and Killaloe between the hours of 9pm and 7am.
Speaking at last night’s meeting of the Joint Policing Committee (JPC), Chief Supt Kerin said he would rather have a garda out on the beat at night than sitting at a desk.
“I am strongly in favour of Ennistymon and Killaloe being closed to the public between 9pm and 7am. We have a modern communication system in place and at present all 999 calls come into Ennis Garda Station,” he said.
“I don’t want a garda in Ennisty- mon doing paper work at night when he could on a motorbike or in a squad car protecting the area. These closures will put an extra garda on the streets protecting their community at night. I am hoping this will come into place later this year but it won’t come in until April 22 at the earliest.”
Chief Supt Kerin also confirmed that it may take some time for a new inspector to be appointed to Ennistymon.
“I have asked that an inspector be placed in Ennistymon but that cannot be done until people are promoted on the inspectors list,” he said. “I am not very happy that the amalgamation will take place without there being an inspector in Ennistymon. I don’t believe that a superintendent in Kilrush can cover everything in North Clare.”
Following recent comments in the media which likened Ennistymon to a “holiday camp” for gardaí, Chief Supt Kerin said that such comments were not helpful and untrue.
“The people in Ennistymon have dealt with three of four serious murders over the last number of years. They are dealing with people taking their lives at the Cliffs of Moher all the time. There are a series of burglaries and breaking all the time,” he said. “I’m not saying that Ennistymon is any better or worse than other areas but it is certainly not a holiday camp as was suggested by one person in the media recently.”