Louth councillor 'shocked' to discover two local Garda Stations without patrol car
Two rural Garda Stations close to the border have been without a patrol car for the last six weeks
Cllr John Reilly said he was 'shocked' to discover that two rural Garda Stations close to the border in Louth have reportedly been without a patrol Car for the last six weeks.
The Dundalk Carlingford councillor said he called into Hackballscoss Garda station last Saturday morning, to ask for assistance with an issue in the local area.
"I was shocked to hear", he commented "that the station has currently no patrol car which it currently shares with Dromad Garda station in the Ravensdale area of north County Louth."
The Fine Gael councillor said he was told that, at present, both stations are ringing Dundalk Garda Station for what he describes as "a lend of a vehicle on a daily basis".
"This is a completely unacceptable situation for the security of the local community", Cllr Reilly told the Dundalk Democrat. "Both stations are very close to the border and are covering a large rural area in the north Louth area."
Cllr Reilly says he has informed Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee TD, of the situation and is waiting on a reply.
The Dundalk Democrat contacted the Department of Justice on the matter. A spokesperson for the Dept said that "the Garda Commissioner is responsible for managing and controlling generally the administration and business of An Garda Síochána which includes the allocation of Garda vehicles."
An Garda Síochána was also contacted for a comment on Cllr Reilly's claims, with a spokesperson telling the Dundalk Democrat that, "An Garda Síochána does not comment on remarks attributed to third parties or on the specific deployment of operational resources."
It added that "the allocation of Garda vehicles is made on the basis of identified operational demands, the availability of resources and is reviewed on a continual basis", and that "details of the Garda fleet are published on a monthly basis on the Garda website".
According to the most recent data on the Garda website, there are currently 80 garda vehicles in Louth. This comprises 20 marked and 13 unmarked cars in Dundalk; five vans and two 4x4 vehicles.
In Ardee there are four marked and four unmarked cars; and three vans. In Drogheda, there are 13 marked and nine unmarked cars; three vans; two motorcycles; one 4x4 vehicle; and one listed as "Other".