LIMERICK Fine Gael TD and Minister of State Kieran O’Donnell met with Justice Minister Helen McEntee in Castletroy to discuss progressing and expediting the building of a new Garda Station for the area, which is now included in the latest Garda Capital Plan.
The welcome inclusion in the Garda Capital Plan comes, Minister O’Donnell said, following a lengthy and tireless campaign by himself and his Fine Gael Cllr colleagues – Cllr Sarah Kiely, Cllr Michael Murphy, and Castletroy-based Fine Gael local election candidate Peter Doyle – for a Garda station to be based in the high growth area of Castletroy/Annacotty.
Central to this campaign, Minister O’Donnell says, was his requesting and securing a submission in March 2021 for a new Castletroy garda station to be included in the Garda Síochána Capital Plan to Garda Commissioner Drew Harris by then Limerick district Chief Superintendent Gerry Roche.
The greater Castletroy/Annacotty area currently has a resident population of approximately of 15,000, swelled by a UL student population of over 18,000, which gives a total current population of about 33,000. This excludes the large number of people working in the area. It is expected the population will grow to 45,000 over the coming years.
“Whilst securing its inclusion in the latest Garda Capital plan is a major step forward towards getting this much needed Garda Station for Castletroy, it is only the first step and we have been working with Justice Minister Helen McEntee, An Garda Síochána, and the OPW (Office of Public Works) to advance the process of securing a site or an existing building to locate this new Garda Station in Castletroy,” O’Donnell told the Limerick Post.
“We welcomed the opportunity to meet with and hold positive discussions with Justice Minister Helen McEntee in Castletroy to expedite the building of this new Garda station in the vastly population growth area of Castletroy.
“Minister McEntee was very supportive of the inclusion of this new Castletroy Garda Station in the current Garda Capital plan and is fully committed to advance this new Garda Station and will continue to engage with an Garda Siochana and OPW in this regard,” he concluded.
