This article is from page 10 of the 2013-01-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 10 JPG
CLARE County Council is to write to the Office of Public Works (OPW) and the Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter (FG) seeking that the eight Clare Garda stations earmarked for closure be retained in community use.
It was confirmed last month that Garda stations in Quin, Inagh, Lahinch, Broadford, Mountshannon, Doonbeg, Kilmihil and Labasheeda are to be closed early in 2013.
At last night’s January meeting of Clare County Council, Lahinchbased Cllr Bill Slattery (FG) raised concerns over what might happen to those Garda stations when they are closed.
“I would like these buildings to be retained for community use. We have no community centre in Lahinch, no place for meetings to take place or for young people and different groups to gather. But we have a fine building here and a fine site at the Lahinch Garda Station. I would really hope that these buildings be retained for community use and not sold off to developers or other people,” said Cllr Slattery.
The motion was seconded by Miltown Malbay Cllr Michael Hillery (FF), who said that the proposal should go forward only if attempts to retain the buildings as Garda stations fail.
“If these Garda stations are to be closed, then I feel that they should be retained for community use. I know for a fact that there has been a lot of investment in Garda stations in places like Lahinch and other areas in recent years and that investment should not be lost,” said Cllr Hillery.
Other councillors also suggested that the Garda buildings could be used for other purposes such as community art galleries or for promoting tourism.
“I think they could be used for tourism-related purposes such as a hostel perhaps,” said Cllr Gabriel Keating (FG).
“They certainly should not be left there or boarded up to rot away.”