JUSTICE Minister Charlie Flanagan has no plans to provide a Garda Station in Castletroy.
And this has prompted local Fianna Fáil TD Willie O’Dea to call on local Fine Gael representatives to press Minister Flanagan to provide a Garda Station to service the needs of both Castletroy and the University of Limerick (UL) population.
“I have been told by numerous people in the Castletroy area that there has been an upsurge in burglaries lately and only last weekend there was a three-hour delay before a Garda car got to the scene of anti-social behaviour where windows were broken in Annacotty,” he told the Limerick Post.
In a Parliamentary Question earlier this week, Deputy O’Dea asked Minister Flanagan if he would consider providing a new Garda station for Castletroy and Annacotty. He pointed out that the area includes UL with over 15,000 students and has also experienced a population explosion in recent years, with further significant increases forecast under the County Development Plan.
“Unfortunately, the Minister replied that he has no plans to provide a Garda Station in Castletroy. I believe this is the wrong decision,” Deputy O’Dea said.
“There is a need for a Garda station in Castletroy to properly police a large growing suburb with an enormous student population. Because the Minister has no plans to respond to this need, I would appeal to the local Fine Gael representatives to press him to change his mind on this priority issue for the residents of Castletroy.”
In his Dáil reply Minister Flanagan stated that the Garda authorities informed him that there are three Garda stations between five and ten kilometers away, in Henry Street, Roxboro Road and Castleconnell.
“A Garda Clinic is run on campus at the University of Limerick by Community Gardaí to cater for student requirements three times a month. More generally, the Garda authorities inform me that crime in the Castletroy and Annacotty area is stable.
“In these circumstances, the development of a new station in Castletroy is not proposed by Gardaí at the present time,” the Minister concluded.
