Campaigners vow to continue protest to keep Garda station open

RESIDENTS who attended a massive protest last week to oppose the closure of Stepaside Garda station have vowed to continue their campaign.

Some local estimates put the number of people attending the protest on Sunday, February 3, at between 2,000 and 2,500.

Hundreds of residents and campaigners formed a human chain around the building in a symbolic gesture of local unity on this issue.

However, official estimates put the numbers attending the protest closer to 1,500.

Des Kennedy, who owns a grocery shop and runs the local post office in Stepaside Village, is one of the leading members of a committee that has been established to campaign against the closure.

He insisted that local people would not relent in their campaign and would keep piling the pressure on Justice Minister Alan Shatter to keep the station open.

“We are going to keep up the pressure,

? he vowed.

“We are asking the people of the Stepaside Garda district to contact the Department of Justice with their concerns. We are not giving up yet. There is still a serious amount of concern about our station closing.

?

He said that although neither the gardai nor the Department of Justice had indicated a specific date for the closure of the station, locals understood it would be early next month.

Mr Kennedy added that a local petition calling on the minister to keep the station open had received 3,200 signatures.

The former assistant Garda commissioner, Martin Donnelan, who lives in the area and has been vocal in his opposition to the proposed closure, also urged the minister to review his plans.

“The only thing I ask for is that they might objectively review this,

? he said.

Minister Shatter believes that measures, including new technology in police cars to pinpoint crime hotspots, will improve local policing.

Local Sinn Fein activist Shaun Tracey, who also attended the protest, vowed that locals would continue their campaign.

“The message has been sent loud and clear to the minister from Stepaside that we will not simply stand by while he closes our local Garda station,

? he declared.

A spokesperson for Minister Shatter referred Southside People to a speech he made in the Seanad on Wednesday, February 6.

In the speech, Minister Shatter noted that Stepaside Garda station was situated three miles from Dundrum Garda station.

“As a constituency representative, there is no doubt that my life would be more comfortable if Stepaside Garda station was not on the list for closure,

? the minister said.

“However, I accept the professional advice of the Garda Commissioner on foot of the operational assessment conducted throughout the country, including in my constituency.”