Meeting the challenges of rationalisation

CLARE’S chief superintendent claims a superintendent based in Kilrush cannot cover all that happens in the Ennistymon district as well as Kilrush without having an inspector based there.

 

Speaking about the district garda station amalgamations, which will occur on April 22, Chief Superintendent John Kerin told the members of the Joint Policing Committee on Monday he wants to base inspectors in Ennistymon and Killaloe.

However, he said that unless inspector promotions are given the go-ahead by Minister Brendan Howlin, he will not be in a position to do so.

“I am not happy about the amalgamation happening without an inspector based in Ennistymon. I would hope that the promotions will be made sooner rather than later so an inspector can be there to cover the work the superintendent did heretofore. I don’t believe a superintendent in Kilrush can cover everything in Ennistymon without having an inspector based there,” he said.

Currently, there are two superintendents and two inspectors heading up the four district garda stations in Clare. Superintendent Derek Smart is based at the Ennistymon District Station; Superintendent Gerry Wall is based at the Kilrush District Station; Inspector John Galvin is acting as district officer in Ennis following the transfer of Superintendent Peter Duff to Dublin, and Inspector John O’Sullivan has been district officer in Killaloe District Station for around two years.

No decision has been made as to the assignment of superintendents to the two new amalgamated district stations in Clare, Kilrush and Ennis, as yet, but April 22 is the date for the changes to come into effect.

The amalgamations will see Kilrush District Station take on responsibility for the Ennistymon District as well as Lisseycasey – which was previously in the Ennis district jurisdiction, while Ennis District Station will subsume the Killaloe district.

Chief Superintendent Kerin is proposing the commissioner sanction the night-time closure of the public offices in Killaloe and Ennistymon to allow the garda(í) responsible for these duties to be out on patrol during the hours of 9pm to 7am.

He maintains that doing so will help provide a better policing service to the general public, however, the commissioner will have to ratify such a move and as such, it is not expected this will come into effect on April 22 with the district changes.

“I’m in favour of closing those public offices between 9pm and 7am because of the limited number of people who call to those stations during that time. I don’t want a garda doing paperwork when he or she could be in a patrol car protecting the community,” he said.

Clare’s chief garda also stressed there has been no reduction in manpower at the Ennistymon and Killaloe stations despite 47 gardaí retiring or leaving the force in recent times.

“The man power is the same as it was two years ago in the Ennistymon and Killaloe areas. Ennis and Shannon suffered most from the retirements,” he said.

Addressing concerns raised by East Clare County Councillor Pat Hayes that the public perception is that the Ennis station will be the first responder to calls from the Killaloe area, Chief Superintendent Kerin said this is not the case.

The superintendent explained that emergency 999 calls are centrally dealt with by the communications office in Ennis and this service is due to transfer to Galway shortly. He said if someone in Killaloe contacts the gardaí during this period, the call comes through to Ennis and gardaí on duty in the Killaloe area are immediately notified by the Ennis office to attend the callout.

“That phone call goes to Ennis automatically and the person in Ennis immediately contacts the garda on duty in Killaloe. It means there will be an additional garda on patrol if the office is closed at night. We cannot sustain having a garda eight or in hours indoors to deal with callers. I can’t see the benefit,” he concluded.

Also speaking on the amalgamation issue, Councillor Michael Hillery said there are “a lot of people living in fear” and the recent rural station closures had created “fear” and “concern” among the public.

“An awful lot of people are concerned about stations not being manned. The general public want to know they could contact their local gardaí and have an immediate response,” he said.