THE CAMPAIGN to have Stepaside Garda Station reopened is set to continue with a protest at 2.30pm on Sunday, January 24.
Community groups in the general Stepaside, Kilgobbin, Leopardstown, Kilternan, Carrickmines, Glenamuck, Kilternan and Glencullen areas will hear from local TDs who have been invited to speak and show their support.
Gardai have also been invited to attend to offer their opinions.
“We have also written to and sought a meeting with Minister Frances Fitzgerald,” a spokesperson for the campaign said.
“Many of our residents have written to the highest echelons of the gardai, and we are now getting increased support from our politicians and councillors.
“Nearly 140 Garda stations were closed during the recession, yet decisions seem to have been made indiscriminately and locals query the decision-making process arrived at to close Stepaside.”
Stepaside Garda Station was closed in April 2013.
“Nearly everyone in the greater community has personal experience of rising crime in our area,” the spokesprson added. “We know that crime has risen in our area, despite the claims officially that there is no correlation between the closure of Garda stations and rising crime.
“In fact, figures released by the CSO in January have confirmed what we already know. And that is that there is a huge spike in crime figures.
“Burglaries in some parts of the Southside have increased by up to 42 per cent in a 12 month period alongside a seven per cent increase in burglaries nationally between September 2014 and September 2015.
“The number of burglaries in the Dublin Metropolitan Eastern Garda Division, which covers Dun Laoghaire Rathdown, confirms that registered burglaries increased from 1,652 to 2,349.
“We, as the greater community, need to see a full Garda presence in our area. Our protest meeting on Sunday, January 24 is a continued highlighting of the situation we are currently in.”
The protest will take place in Stepaside Park, Stepaside on the main Enniskerry Road.