Calls have been made for an all-new Donegal Town Garda Station and extra personnel to tackle crime following recent plans to downgrade the station.
It was announced in February that the Donegal Town station would have opening hours reduced from 24 hours to a total of approx 6 hours per day. The downgrade has caused much concern in relation to crime levels and garda personnel available in the town.
Speaking at this week’s Donegal Joint Policing Committee, community representative Lawrence McManus called on local politicians to allocate more funds for the station.
“I have a job for the TDs to open a new Donegal Town Garda Station, not the old one opened up. The old one is past its sell-by date, there aren’t enough guards and there’s not enough money,” Mr McManus said.
Cllr. Gerry McMonagle, Chair of the Donegal Joint Policing Committee, asked for reassurance from the senior Garda panel that there are enough resources to fight crime.
Cllr McMonagle said: “We know there is a serious lack of resources in the county. As an elected representative we are continuously lobbying the Department of Justice and the Garda Commissioner to send more resources and personnel to the county and it seems to be falling on deaf ears.”
Inspector Denis Joyce said crime under constant analysis in the county. He suggested that more Garda Reserves would help personnel challenges within the force.
Inspector Joyce said that 13 provisional garda members have been allocated to Letterkenny in the last three months, and it is planned for the officers to be moved out across the county to provide extra personnel and crime patrol.
He said gardai are monitoring crime trends on the PULSE system and on a regional level.
Inspector Joyce acknowledged that the biggest challenge is having gardai visible out on the beat in towns. He said: “We are pushing for people to join up to the Garda Reserves. It’s a great way to give something back, to come out and do what we have to do on a Saturday night. Every person on the beat helps us and I would encourage people to join the Reserves.”