This article is from page 4 of the 2008-07-29 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
PLANS by An Garda Siochana to re- align the make-up of garda divisions to county boundaries could have critical implications for policing in parts of east Clare if the changes are implemented as expected next Janu- ae
There are also concerns for the fu- ture of the recently established traf- fic corps in Killaloe which covers a large section of the N7 national pri- mary route.
At present, garda divisions are not restricted to county boundaries
and in many cases comprise areas of more than one county. Under the plan, areas of Clare covered by Lim- erick City will return to the Clare division while parts of Tipperary, currently part of the Clare garda di- vision, will be part of the Tipperary CU AsrSS ete
East Clare Labour Councillor Pas- cal Fitzgerald says any plan to re- draw divisional borders would not be satisfactory unless adequate garda resources are provided in his area.
“At present, there is a large part of east Clare covered from Henry Street station in Limerick. As it 1s,
with over 12,000 people living in the Westbury and Shannon Banks area, we often have to wait 20 minutes for a squad car to travel less than four kilometres from the city.
“If the boundaries are redrawn, we could have to wait half and hour or more for gardai to come from Kil- laloe, 20 kilometres away”.
“If this plan is enforced, I want to see our local station at Ardnacru- sha properly resourced and open 24 hours a day and I will also be de- manding that a sub station of that be opened in the Westbury estate. I have already met with a businessman who
is willing to provide premises for a station in Westbury”, he said.
If the Garda Commissioner’s plan is implemented, it will also mean that Ballina in County Tipperary will be served by Nenagh 20 kilome- tres away even though Killaloe sta- tion 1s located just across the bridge less than a kilometre away.
Killaloe councillor Tony O’Brien (FF) said he would have very serious concerns if any changes would result in a downgrading of the Killaloe sta- tion as any downgrading would seri- ously impact on the level of services being provided.