Furore Over Malahide Garda Station

A war of words has broken out between North County politicians in a dispute over the significance of the government’s downgrading of services provided by Malahide Garda Station. Local TD Clare Daly (SP) has called on the North County’s three government TDs to ‘intervene and force a review’ with regard to cutbacks to public opening hours and services at the station. The appeal comes, following the government’s outlining of the services redeployment which means that, from March, the station’s public office will be closed between 10pm and 6am. Speaking to the County Leader, Daly hit out at the downgrade, stating that: “The Minister is claiming that the decision to cut the opening hours in the station is not about cost savings, but rather about improving the deployment of garda resources. This is nonsense. She went on to allege,”Everyone knows that there are less gardai on the streets than ever before.” It is the latest broadside to be aimed at the North County’s three government TDs, following recent criticism from Senator Darragh O’Brien (FF) - who claimed that “the silence from Fine Gael and Labour on this issue is extraordinary.” Following up on this, the County Leader contacted our region’s three government representatives - Alan Farrell (FG), Minister James Reilly and Brendan Ryan (Lab). In responding to O’Brien’s criticism, Farrell, who is based in Malahide said: “I reiterate my surprise that Senator O’Brien has appeared to have forgotten his role and the role of his party in the failed management of our public services and therefore should direct criticism a bit closer to home. I have engaged fully with the Minister for Justice and Sergeant Cox from Malahide Garda Station and I can confirm on their behalf that this measure will not result in the reduction of manpower or Garda services to Malahide.” In a letter obtained by the County Leader, Sergeant in Charge, Austin Cox highlights that manpower allocation will not be affected, while services will remain the same. However, the letter continues that “in addition, the non-emergency phone lines at Malahide will be diverted to Coolock Garda Station who will dispatch Malahide Garda Units to non-emergency calls.” Daly has rebuffed this response, describing it as the packaging of government spin. “The point is that this public office (in Malahide), that was available before all this, will now provide a lesser service to the community.” Deputy Brendan Ryan (Lab) stated that: “The Gardaí will continue to patrol Malahide and the surrounding areas between the hours of 10pm and 6am. In essence, the only difference will be that the garda deployed on desk duties from 10pm to 6am will be redeployed on active patrolling to augment the current policing of the Malahide sub-district,” he said. He continued, “It is the responsibility of all public representatives to ensure the message gets out that the Gardaí will continue to patrol Malahide. I have found some of the quotes attributed to some public representatives quite reckless, insofar as they infer that Malahide will be without any Garda service whatsoever during these hours. This is not the case,” he concluded. Minister Reilly was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.