COMMENTS about the closure of Whitehall Garda Station made after the appalling Regency Hotel shootings by Minister for Justice, Frances Fitzgerald, have sparked an angry response locally.
Whitehall Garda Station was closed in 2012 as part of cutbacks and the station is just 400 yards from the Regency. However, speaking last week on RTE’s Today with Sean O’Rourke, the Minister pointed out that Ballymun and Santry Garda stations are just “a couple of minutes away” and that gardaí had responded to the shooting within five minutes.
“Clearly, one or two unarmed gardaí going over to the hotel, one dreads to think about that,” she added.
“These are sophisticated, ruthless gangs who need a variety of methods to intercept them.”
Fianna Fáil councillor Paul McAuliffe said he was “absolutely dismayed” by the minister’s comments.
“Minister Fitzgerald is out of touch and doesn’t understand the fear that is permeating across worried communities in Dublin City,” he stated.
“Whitehall Garda Station made people feel safer. It made older people feel safe in their homes and confident that a Garda was only around the corner if anything went wrong.
“What Minister Fitzgerald doesn’t seem to understand is that criminals wouldn’t dare carry out such an attack if there was a fully functioning Garda station in the community.”
Ballymun councillor Noeleen Reilly (SF) believed that a panic button in the Regency Hotel directly linked to the station could have made a difference during the attack at the boxing weigh-in.
“We can’t say whether this would have prevented the incident but it certainly would have meant gardaí would have been on the scene sooner and there would have been more gardaí in the area generally,” she added.
Cllr Reilly also hit back at Fine Gael local councillor, Noel Rock, over his comments made in Northside People last week in relation to rumours that Santry Garda Station could be downgraded.
Minister Fitzgerald clarified that there were no plans to downgrade the station and Cllr Rock accused his political rivals of “shameless scaremongering” over the issue.
“Noel Rock has accused me and another local representative of scaremongering ahead of the general election in terms of Santry Garda Station,” she said.
“The true facts are that people in Santry and Whitehall do feel more vulnerable under the Fine Gael Government due to the closure of the Whitehall station and the scaling back of the Santry station.”