Kildare will be 'more vulnerable to crime because of garda resource changes'

Changes to how garda resources are administered could result in a lack of gardaí in Kildare.

Concern has been expressed in the wake of the announcement that the Kildare garda division will align with Carlow.

Social Democrats councillor Bill Clear says this means garda personnel will be required to cover an area  from Maynooth to beyond St Mullins some 117 kms (73 miles) away.

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He pointed out that this new division will have a combined population of 310,000 people. “Other counties that have their own policing districts have smaller populations, such as Kerry with 155,000, Limerick with 209,000 and Donegal with 167,000.”

He added: “Kildare on its own has 248,000 and will now be joined with Carlow, which has 62,000.”

He believes that this will have an adverse effect on the policing of Kildare.

“Garda cars will be directed all over the region, leaving Kildare much more vulnerable to crime” he predicted 

“The genesis of this is a model from Northern Ireland, even though the average size of a division there is two thirds the size of Kildare.”

Cllr Clear has called on the Kildare chief superintendent Anthony Loneregan to clarify the criteria that was used for this change.

He has also asked that the decision be reviewed after 12 months.