Clare’s most senior officer has warned that he expects several rural garda stations across the county to be shut-down by the Justice Minister this year.
Last year Clare escaped the brunt of the closures with the loss of just one station at Carrigaholt however addressing the Joint Policing Committee in Kildysart last night, Chief Superintendent John Kerin admitted a number of locations will be targeted this time round.
Chief Superintendent Kerin said its not clear at this stage what parts of the county will be hit but expects a decision to be made in the coming weeks when the Garda Commissioner’s policing plan is made known.
Meanwhile,
Chief Superintendent Kerin has given his commitment to retain garda services in Kildysart and the surrounding communities despite the loss of 45 gardaí in the last 2 years and further more retirements expected
There’s currently one full time officer based in the area but a second garda who was appointed during the summer, but who’s been on leave, will take up her post in the coming weeks.
He also expressed his support for a text alert system that’s already being rolled out on a pilot basis in East Clare but warned that he’d like to see it developed further before its operated on a full time basis.
Local businessman and Chairman of Community Alert in Kildysart Michael Michaels has welcomed the commitments given by gardaí – especially in the area of policing local rural communities
