Residents seek meeting over Garda station

ANGRY Southsiders are demanding a meeting with the Garda Commissioner in a last ditch effort to convince the authorities to keep the Garda station in Stepaside open.

Last week a number of sources told Southside People that the Garda station will close on March 14.

The Minister for Justice Alan Shatter has said the closure of the Stepaside base would not result in a loss of policing to cover the area as 34 gardai currently stationed there will be primarily allocated to Dundrum Garda Station.

However, residents, who believe that the closure will lead to increased crime in the area, have not given up hope of persuading the authorities to reverse the decision.

They have now requested a meeting with Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan to discuss the matter.

It is estimated that between 1,500 and 2,000 local people attended a protest against the planned closure of the Garda station in Stepaside Village on Sunday, February 3.

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

“The committee is seeking a meeting with the Garda Commissioner,

? he confirmed.

“We have asked him to reconsider this location.

“The reaction to the news that the station will close on March 14 in the village is one of dismay,

? he added.

Deputy Shane Ross (Ind) has met with local campaigners to discuss the closure.

“The emphasis of our recent meeting was to put pressure on the [Garda] Commissioner,

? he said.

“We are trying to make life easier for the minister by getting the commissioner to take a decision to either postpone or defer the closure.

?

Meanwhile, local gardai have called on authorities to provide them with refurbished accommodation at Dundrum station where gardai currently based at Stepaside will be redeployed.

Ultan Sherlock, a detective based at Stepaside Garda station, is an executive committee member of the Garda Representative Association (GRA) and a local resident.

He noted that a refurbishment of the courthouse in Dundrum was currently underway, but noted that a refurbishment planned for Dundrum station itself was not scheduled to take place for another two years.

“The old courthouse is close to the completion of its refurbishment,

? he said.

“But phase two is the refurbishment of the station itself and that has not commenced yet.

?

In a statement issued by the Department of Justice, Minister Shatter said the closure of any particular Garda Station would not affect the procedure for the Garda response to emergency calls.

“In the Dublin Metropolitan Region (which includes Stepaside) a call to 999 or 112 requesting urgent Garda assistance will be referred immediately to the Garda command and control centre in Harcourt Square,

? the statement reads.

“The command and control centre will direct the necessary Garda resources to the location of the emergency. This is done without reference to a Garda station.

“In relation to the policing of the area I am informed by Commissioner Callinan that a detailed plan is being prepared for the policing of Stepaside Sub District following the closure of Stepaside Garda Station.

?