Well spotted Anthony. His arrogance in this regard is very telling. It says a lot about his personality.

No it says more about the electorate and the people who put him in power. He is Upper and we are just the Goyam.

it’s not just shatter, it’s noonan, hogan, varadkar, hayes… every last one of them.. but at least the fine gaelers dont try to hide their contempt for the rest of us, unlike the fianna failers who would try and play you like a fool instead.. sick of the lot of them..

Apparently a civilian can be appointed to the role of Commissioner! Surely there’s someone highly educated and adequately skilled for the job. An ex-officer of another police force perhaps for a different take on all things Irish & fu*ked Up!

Callinan joined the Garda Síochána in 1973 and has served in Waterford, Blanchardstown, Cabra, the former Central Detective Unit, Pearse Street, Terenure, Swinford and the Crime and Security Section at Garda Headquarters. He has been assigned to the National Support Services, the Garda National Drugs Unit, the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation, the Criminal Assets Bureau and the Operational Support Unit.

Pathetic to go after him and class his record as comparable to an outside civilian being potitically appointed. And he advised the Minister these closures would result in better and more effective policing.

Well it’s his constituency so maybe the local people should ring him if they feel threatened or see anything,after all we all know where there will be at least two armed Garda 24/7.

@martn- I’d feel much safer knowing the Gardai are driving around my area than sitting behind a desk. I’d certainly prefer them performing that function than being there for people to drop in & have a chat with.

One man stations scattered everywhere was based on the RIC model of policing in 1921. We still have far more stations per kilometer squared and per head of population than Northern Ireland and the UK. Serious crime has been falling over the past 3 years in spite of all the media hysteria.

Burglary has risen by 10.3 percent, I’d consider this serious enough.

Vincent it’s not just about dropping in for a chat, it’s about feeling secure and connected.. This policy only serves to isolate people and make them feel vulnerable.. Why is this happening? The population is increasing, and the govt. are closing stations and reducing Garda numbers and hammering morale.. Why? Because the Troika told us?

Latest CSO figures show for headline or serious crime revealed that, of the 14 crime groups categorised by the CSO, 11 showed a reduction.

Ah for God’s sake don’t be so naive in comparing our police force with that of the north and the Uk. I’m sick of that rubbish. They have much better resources and equipment and they also utilise civilians better. I don’t pay a whole heed to crime figures. A lot of crime isn’t even reported and the fact is there will be a hell if a lot more of it unreported when the smaller stations close as people won’t even bother calling the guards out from miles away. Closing Stepaside is a joke. It’s a vast area and anyone who believes that it won’t affect the quality of service by Gardai is gullible to the spin Shatter and co are throwing out there. That side of the country was always quite vulnerable to crime.

There will be more money available from this much needed reform for equipment and to upgrade the garda vehicular fleet. The GRA have been consistently opposed to greater utilisation of civilians for administrative duties, so that guards are freed up to engage in patrols.

But burglaries are still up by 10.3 percent, I think you will agree that this statistic is staggering and it is what frightens everyday people the most.

@joe

You really are hell bent on believing everything the newspaper tells you. Can you tell me where you think all this extra money is going to come from?

@jamie- we have no money. I don’t know how many times I can say that on this site. Do people not believe that? They think there’s a stash of cash hidden somewhere? In an ideal world, every community would have a Garda barracks and a friendly Garda who knows everyone’s name. Ours is not an ideal world at the moment. You think Shatter reckons closing Garda barracks is a vote winner? That he wants to do it? Please.

€3 million has been allocated to new vehicles which brought 212 new vehicles to year end of 2012. There is no “all of this money”, it’s simply about managing what resources there are more efficiently.

There was a 25% decrease in burglaries, arresting the increase, for the last 3 months of recorded figures, due to operations targeting prolific offenders.

The Garda Commissioner is the one who advised the Minister for Justice what changes and reforms would result in more gardaí being available to be on the beat. It is he and higher ranking garda officers who have the most in-depth knowledge of policing, and who came to this conclusion.

hi joe. still spouting this stuff thats untrue. I completely debunked you on the previous garda topic you posted on to such an extent you could not reply. Not in mood of doing it again, i tend unlike you to repeat myself over and over. But when you know nothing about how to police better not to comment,

tend not to repeat myself ;)

sorry one eye on superbowl buildup

Vincent if only you knew the truth , you think all these extra Gardai will be driving around these areas now , wrong ! They will just do the same job that they did but in a bigger station 20 miles away . The fact is that at present there is a massive shortage of squad cars and no new ones being rolled out. So continue to dream on in your own world there and hope when you wake up your house has not been robbed cause the robbers see your house as an easy target now because the nearest station is 20 miles away now .
There again maybe you don’t find fault in the closures because it doesn’t effect you !!

Stewie, I could not reply to your complete and utter tripe because thejournal.ie disabled my replies for the article in question. I’m sure the author of the article in question, Christine Bohan, will be happy to confirm.

As I just stated, higher ranking Garda and the Garda Commisioner are the ones who recommended these closures. But of course, your expertise trumps those of the highest ranking police officers in the State.

Go back to posting on boards.ie with all the children.

http://www.thejournal.ie/garda-appeal-adrian-donohoe-shooting-779750-Feb2013/

there you go Joe instead of repeating you can see there.

nite joe

Remember Stewie, you know more about policing than the Garda Commissioner. Off to bed now, good boy.

That’s not for extra cars , it’s to replace the old ones

Well Vincent all I know is that we seem to have billions to hand over to the faceless bondholders, but no money for services at home..

“Bondholders” should be the new Godwin’s Law.

@jrbmc- clearly I have underestimated you. Obviously you were privy to the discussions between the Garda Commissioner and the Minister. This is how you know “the truth”. Does the J at the beginning of your name stand for “Jim” and the C at the end for “Corr”, by any chance?

@jamie- that’s done. Dusted. Deal signed. All people on here want to do is live in the land of “I wish it weren’t so”. We’ve signed up to the Troika bailout. We are where we are. Had we turned down the bailout we wouldn’t have the money to pay any Gardai, let alone have to close a few stations but that’s an argument for a different thread. We’d be better served making the most of our new reality rather than bemoaning our fate.

I just might know more then you know Joe. Certainly more then you do on topic in question. Could it be your comments were immature and liabilious?

Stew is right. Reading post he expressed exactly what is the situation. On the street guards do the policing not higher ranks. The guards are the ones that should be listened too. When was lash time commissioner death with actual policing and arresting and dealing with local communities? Yep exactly.

So Joe tottle off your ignorance is evident. When you police the streets come back then.

By the way what’s Yvette author going to confirm ? That your comments were inaccurate , off topic and unfit to publish.

Indeed comments get deleted but to get actually barred from a forum you must have been some beaut.

Sadly it’s a day we can all mark down that we will not see as many patrols in effected areas. I’m sure for first months guards will be ordered to be there to give the public a false sense. But as resources dwindle and cars go off road not being replaced we will see a massive decrease. Criminals will be delighted no recession for them.

What is the author going to confirm **** predictive text, the curse of the modern age

@youdontknowme

None of my comments were removed and the ones made are still all there. Simply the reply function was disabled by I presume, the author, Christine Bohan.

Shatter said that nationwide Garda station closures in 2013 will result in an extra 61,000 Garda patrol hours. If the figure is achieved it looks like better resource management to me.There is a reason why police have a command structure – rank and file have a very limited knowledge of overall strategic policy implementation in the garda force.The gardai have been caught in the jaws of debt like everyone else in society and are aggrieved by new roster changes. They have too much dust in their eyes to be objective in this debate.

Commisioner Callinan said a “number of stations, in effect, are closed and have been for many years” and that these were “no-brainers” in terms of permanent closure. You’re grasping at straws if you’re saying the higher ranking garda officials know less than rank and file members because they havent arrested someone for drunk and disorderly recently.

Joe is bang on the money. It’s so easy to spot the keyboard police from the real ones.

It’s really sickening closing down the very heart of community policing. He’s actually weakening communities by this. And all that spiel he’s feeding us saying it will actually strengthen the Gardai is cods wallop. He’s breaking down society and he knows it.

Joe o Shea. Your wrong my friend serious crime is up and murder has increased year on year for last no of years. Look up CSO for statistics.

Civillian staff do not complete files…. The so called desk duty performed by gardai is taking statements and putting the associated file together….

@joe o Shea… Your some troll.

@Phil Most recent staistics from the CSO show homicides have fallen by 52 per cent from a peak of 138 cases in 2007.

Overall crime rates have fallen by 13 per cent since its peak in 2008, after previously increasing consistently for a decade and a half.

Get off the stage you toolbag !!

On the whole, crime is up in Ireland since the 1960s:

http://www.irishsalem.com/irish-controversies/crime-in-ireland/politicsie-paulwilliams-nov10.php

Oh lord Joe. Really you astound me: ) again what you say about closing stations was debunked. I stand by the absolutely accurate statement that on the found gardai know more. The higher ranks deal in numbers. Political appointments. You hardly thing the current commissioner got there by not being in with fg. seriously look how many red thumb every comment. Your either a troll or very misinformed.

In fact youdontknowme, nothing I said has been debunked. I have posted facts and CSO statistics. The only response to such figures has been comments such as “troll”, etc.

Keep harping on about the Commissioner and higher ranking gardai only being political appointments. The reality is they got where they are because they are experts on policing, and they have recommended these closures – not aggrieved gardai who have unwisely strayed into political arguments again.

On this website, I take more red thumbs as reinforcement of my arguments.

Wow. Joe, stewie completely blew you out of the water andyou don’t see.

As for commisoner being expert on policing. He is expert at keeping finger in all pies. The experts are on the ground the ones who secure the convictions.

We can be certain of one thing joe that you don’t hold any position of authority in private sector. That name tag must be heavy.

Actually best place for you is the journal facebook page. That where people who love tin foil hats hang out. Oh please joe their just dying to meet you, kindred spirits and all that

Of course he was Jim.

Sharky seriously, your brother is completely identifiable from your posts. You are leaking sensitive information.

@ Jim

If it is true for yer brother’s sake delete that last post!!!!! Of course stepaside would be a quieter area than clondalkin, chalk and cheese, but still my point above is valid. Crime still happens in stepasdie DAILY, there is a need for a garda presence, but shatter has removed that now

Prison is no longer a deterrent. They are treated like spoilt children. The more they scream the more they get while working conditions for staff are continually degraded.

I think you’ll find they now have 1.9lt diesel caddy vans.. Top speed 130km.. Lord Save us!!

They’re actually 1.8ltr ford transit connect vans.

Why not put a garda station outside of everyone’s house and have a garda working outta there?

Is this not a bigger version of the $hite you’re trying to spin ?

Subversives caught spying in the city and a member murdered last week. They are very much needed. Drop the 24/7 protection for ex presidents.

Actually this position is very much seen as a threat, this and the UK ambassador are very much on the radar, theres plenty of intelligence to prove it.

Fine Gael trolls out in force this evening!

I would never vote or support FG. I am not a troll.

What I said is true, I get downvotes and you get a load of upvotes for having a go at my factual statement.

Plenty of people will tell you that the minister of justice in this state comes with a huge risk, just because the current one isn’t very popular with people doesn’t mean we should ignore that real risk.

@ciaran- genuinely pathetic that anyone who disagrees with you is a “troll”.

Absolutely, he is so out of touch with the needs of the people out there its actually frightening. Where is he getting his advice from, that has to be made public soon because he for one isn’t acting on his own.

Rubbish. More regular patrols moving around your area rather than Gardai chained to desks stamping forms will reduce response time and represent a much greater deterent to criminals.

@Vincent, that makes a lot of sense on paper & in theory but the ststion in particular would mean Garda walking around the area as opposed to passing through in a car.
The foot patrol has proven to be very effective and indeed comforting to residents in an area.
I have also noticed a few Garda patroling estates in my area on mountain bikes but they have limited range from a central base.

Vincent in theory what you say makes sense. But unfortunately all the forms and paperwork are still going to have to be signed and stamped by the gardai. Closing Stepaside will remove the garda from the desk in Stepaside but you will probably have two gardai at the desk now at the nearest station to cope with all the additional extra work as a result of closing Stepaside.
If the minister was serious about freeing gardai from desk duties he should be looking at ways of decreasing paperwork in the gardai, what he is doing now will have no effect and will not free up any gardai.

@paul- that paperwork will be handled in the other Garda stations by Gardai already doing that job. It’s inconvenient, but we live in inconvenient times. There’s an emotional attachment to local Gardai. I understand that. But we can’t afford it.

@vincent

You think the paperwork will be handled by gardai in other stations already doing that job? Hahaha, the more comments you leave the more apparent it becomes how utterly clueless you really are. You are consistently unable to answer any questions put to you. You seem to think you know it all. In fact, are you Alan shatter in disguise by any chance?

Oh well if rumour has it, it must be true.

@vincent

Can you rationally explain why serious charges are being dropped against major criminals because the government won’t pay for their security detail in court? And don’t give me the usual bullshit line of “we.have.no.money”

@jim: We. Have. No. Money. Ah, free will……. Anyway, when you have an argument that factors in that sad reality rather than conveniently ignores our bankruptcy I’ll be all ears.

@vincent

You seem to be all ears for the rubbish that fg and minister shatter spout for you and if that’s what you chose to believe then fair play to you. 3 million euro has been allocated to try and replace some of the clapped out Garda fleet. 20million euro had been allocated to renovate the national museum. Does this make sense to you Vincent?? Do you think it’s a good allocation if state funds?? Even though we.have.no.money?

Real mature, good contribution to the debate.

66 green thumbs and 16 down as I type.

The general quality of commentators on this website really is quite retarded.

It’s liveline for people who got their first broadband connection in 2010. Welcome to the internet everyone.

That, oh great one is my opinion of Shatter, one that I am entitled to. If you don’t like it…tough. :)

That’s right Mr Shatter withdraw funding and hand us over to the burglars, rapists and other common criminals so that you can hand our money over to pay for the crimes of your criminal elite friends.

Are you antisemitic chilli? A rat lives in a rat hole and Shatter is clearly not a rat. You can only be using the term “rat” as the common racial epitet for jewish persons.

I really object to the use of that word

And why do you choose to call yourself the mule as mules are extremely stubborn and very seldom listen to instructions or orders from their masters….but you are the opposite if that..perhaps your next name should be lassie. Good boy. Do exactly what your master tells you to do, never question it and never disagree with him . You can Insult me all you want my dear sir but I will continue to voice my opinion in my way.

@gathering- you didn’t read the 61,000 extra patrol hours figure above, no? Has reality no role to play in debates on here? You’d prefer Gardai sitting in a small Garda station stamping car tax forms rather than driving around housing estates and villages around the country?

You really buy into that tripe?

Vincent, reality is but an illusion, just because there is a promise of extra hours on the beat, doesn’t mean this will actually follow, like many other promises governments routinely make and break. The perception of many people is that these stations provide them with a security that there closure takes away, this is there reality, regardless of what anyone else says, this is there reality

You really would swallow a brick Vincent.

The Gardai themselves don’t agree with it and know he’s turning this into one big almighty Cluster f**k !!!

And when the big feckin gobsh*te does realise it not a great idea , how much will it cost to reopen them again !!

@chairman- in the midst of economic Armageddon I’d prefer if our elected representatives were legislating based on realities rather than perceptions. Pandering to the electorate, doing the popular rather than the right thing….that’s how FF got us into this mess.

@jim- I can but aspire to be a visionary like your good self.

@Jrbmc- you show me a civil servant and I’ll show you someone who doesn’t want ANY change to working conditions.

Fair enough chili, I took a look at who you follow on twitter.

You don’t appear to be a particularly smart person and seem to show an interest in the most inane of topics.

All back to the rat hole! Good one!

Dear sir, you are obviously nothing more than a troll who gets his kicks from insulting people who don’t have an Oxford dictionary on hand to translate their comments. You mean nothing to me, troll me all you want as that seems to be all you do with your days but you won’t bully me off this forum. Keep changing your name as you obviously have multiple personalities and chat to each other on a regular bases.

What would policing expert Mike Clinton do? Here is your brief Commissioner Clueless.

Spending has to be cut by 15% over the next 5 years and crime has to be reduced. What do you do?
Would you open up lots of new stations to make everyone feel safe and secure?

Ah the muppet troll otherwise known as paddy /richard/mark/etc and now mule (quite apt seeing your so full of it).

There is one sure fire way to reduce crime; more prison places,longer sentences, no suspended sentences.

You have yet to respond to a single point I’ve raised. I’m aware than cognitive functions deteriorate rapidly after 40 but surely your lifetime experience of past economic and political situations have given you some useful insights into our current problems. I want you to develop on some of your political points Mike.

Mike just answer his question instead of just throwing hyperbole and insults around.

A bit of constructive debate would be welcome.

Hard labour , work camps , no dole when locked up , need I go on,

And no concurrent sentences. What’s the point of a sentence if it’s tacked onto another one and not a day of it is served. As for remission of half a sentence for good behaviour don’t get me started!
Alan Shatter knows well what he’s doing, cutting Garda numbers, but it doesn’t matter to him because he has full time security.

It will of course now that the Garda station force field is shut off. Dundrum is very safe because every criminal knows there is a garda station in the village and they only target places that have no garda station within 2 miles, the extent of the shields power.

I’m not Paddy/Richard/Michael. I have a twitter account for using on various newspapers now as most seem to require to “know” who I am. I’m a firm believer in keeping my private site private particularly when I’m about to air my political views, something that my job bars me from doing. If thejournal were to advocate the sole use of a persons full name then they would be excluding tens of thousands of workers from posting.

Of course your not,funny how the insults and writing style never changes even though the name does.

Ok, yourself and The Beard can lump attribute any post with well formed arguments, multi-syllabic words and link references to this mythical master-troll. If that is the mental gymnastics you require to save face then go for it.

How many names/accounts have you now “Mule”? noticed further up you posted a comment under the wrong name.Your slipping up,don’t worry i know in your haste to post an insult its bound to happen.

Pay no attention to the muppet,I don’t.

How is it possible to post a comment under the wrong name?

Mule
He thinks I’m you!

Mike Clinton seems to call anyone a troll who doesn’t agree with his usually over the top and childish sweeping statements.

He says he pays no attention to these supposed trolls and tells people they are all the same person.

Get a grip.

Haha…. Yeah right !!!!

Yeah, exactly! Shatter tightens the guards budgetary purse strings and forces the commissioner to come up with these cost saving strategies and when it goes belly up he let’s the commission take the flack for it because it was his idea!!

Politics at its finest

It is pretty standard that the home of a Justice Minister is protected by the Gardai, he would be a significant risk and target.

Garda Shark will be in a lot of trouble for leaking sensitive security information.

**** troll alert***** formerly rodgers

Not a troll.

Check your facts.

Sean, there is no risk to shatters life. His security gardai should be put back on the beat. Buy him a decent alarm and a dog!

Best ignored Mike..

I’m not Tony,he’s nothing but a muppet.

Anyone who doesn’t think there is any risk to the minister for justice in the republic of ireland needs their head checked.

The minister in this role and the UK ambassador are always on the radar of provisionals, there is a real risk to this people.

He has one at home,

That may be true Bonnie, but he certainly speaks with a forked tounge.

Who’s Regan?

I’ll pretend You didn’t ask that.

I’d rather you answered the question. Did you mean Reagan by any chance?

Ask your brother the guard Jim, I’m sure he’ll enlighten you.

Wrong. Station closures were demanded by shatter and nominated by the Garda commissioner. Who, believe it or not was appointed by shatter and given a 2 year extension to his contract so he could remain on as shatters “yes” man.

Yet he was the man, who made a joke ” how many Garda stations could I close in 10 minutes” he is so far from reality it is unbelievable. It time there was a reshuffle of ministers or at the very least get rid of this one…

“Wrong.”

What an agressive obnoxious way to begin your retort.

What’s worse is that your following statement is purely based on your opinion.

Well done, smart guy.

@jim

Read my comment again genius, everything I’ve said us fact. Just because you choose not to believe it doesn’t make it wrong.

What ever you say Jim Melia. Obviously you know stuff. Jim Corr fan?

Just telling it as it is o’reilly. Do you disagree with me that the commissioner was a political appointment and was granted his 2 year extension politically?