Two-month trial of Broadford garda clinics

A SOLUTION to the closure of Broadford Garda Station has been formalised following a meeting of the Broadford and O’Callaghan’s Mills community alert groups, which will see two weekly garda clinics operate in the village.

A garda will be on hand at the GAA hall in Broadford each Monday from 2pm to 3pm and each Thursday from 3.30pm to 4.30pm from next week.

The initiative was signed off on at a meeting of the two community alert groups and the previously Broadford-based Garda Pat Keane on Tuesday night. It was agreed that the chosen times were the most suitable to ensure a garda presence and facilitate members of the public.

Speaking about the move, Michael McInerney, chairperson of Broadford Community Alert, explained a private meeting room will be provided at the GAA facilities to ensure the privacy of those attending. Mr McInerney said this initiative will run over a two-month period initially and its continuation would depend on its use by the public.

“The ideal situation is to have Garda Pat Keane in our local garda station but we have to make the best of a bad lot. To keep this service in the village, it would be most important that it is supported. We’ll keep it going for as long as we can but to maintain the service, it needs to be supported by the community. The times are beneficial for both the public and the gardaí so we can be assured the gardaí are there. The GAA hall is just two doors up from the garda station and there is plenty of parking,” he said.

Mr McInerney said if demand is high or if members of the public arrive with a few minutes to go, the gardaí have said they will stay on to facilitate them.

Garda Keane explained gardaí facilitating these clinics will not necessarily be the same from week to week, as it will depend who is rostered to work at the time.

“What we plan on doing is we will have a garda stamp with us to stamp forms but as we won’t have an office to store the forms, we will only have the more popular forms with us, for instance passport forms and car tax forms and we will only have a limited amount. Or course, we will also take reports. If people want specific forms or a specific service, they could call Killaloe Garda Station ahead of time and this could be arranged,” Garda Keane said.

The gardaí will be from Killaloe Garda Station and the initiative is being overseen by the district officer there, Inspector John O’Sullivan.

Meanwhile, Clare’s Chief Superintendent John Kerin has agreed to meet with the local policing committee on a bi-monthly basis, so it is expected that a meeting will take place with him at the conclusion of the initial two-month period to assess whether to continue it.

“We’re going to do it for two months to see if it’s used initially. We’ll have to see how it fares out. Hopefully, people will make use of the service,” Garda Keane said.

Councillor Joe Cooney, who is the chairperson of the O’Callaghan’s Mills Community Alert Group, said, “We are all sorry to lose the garda station but life has to move on. This is on a two-month trial basis to see if people turn out to support it. I’m urging people to support it. If it gets busy enough, we could put in a third clinic.”