How quickly we forget Fianna Fáil is the root cause of these cuts in the first place.

David with the greatest of respect me and my colleagues don’t wont to hear from fg on this very difficult day, we are sick and angry enough so please don’t make it any harder on us. Let us have this day without fg using his murder to score points. Thank you

Ah David, the old FG battle cry of the bold boy in the school yard. “An older boy told me to do it”. The public have wised up to it and it doesn’t wash anymore. What FG are doing with policing goes massively beyond what anyone else ever proposed. It’s slash and burn tactics. Your lot didn’t “inherit” this economy, ye campaigned for it, made promises for it, spent a fortune going up and down the country to convince people ye knew what to do with it and what now? We see that 2 years on there isn’t a single original thought in this Government. Trying to play the FF card is a gross admittance of defeat in this debate, that ye know ye have it wrong but that ye’ve gone too far to turn back now. Tell your leaders that they won the 2011 general election but that it’s now 2013 and it’s time to stop fighting it and to actually start governing for a change.

David you and all other FG supporters seem to forget that when FF were recklessly spending the country’s money FG were calling on them to spend more and criticising them when they didn’t. This isn’t an opinion it’s a fact. There isn’t one good political party on this island.

What’s amazing about this whole episode is that no one in the media has called out Shatter for quite breathtaking cynicism – attempting to use the murder of a Garda to avoid legitimate criticism of his policing policy!

“How quickly we forget Fianna Fáil is the root cause of these cuts in the first place.”

Interesting take,seen as Fianna Gael are continuing where Fine Fail left off.The only reasonable question left to ask is,when are they going to merge into one party ???

Was he looking after his own interests when he closed a station in his own constituency?

Easy close a station when he has a Guard outside his own home 24/7. How about the other couple of thousand houses!

Well when he has Garda protection outside his front door, why difference does it make to him??

If there was a national vote in the morning on whether these stations should be kept opened or closed…I believe it would be a over whelming yes to closure. I looked at the list of stations and also looked at the level of crimes noted / recorded in them in the last 3 years… In this very culture that got us where we are now!!! These stations are not remotely necessary and add no value except to give idiots a reason to argue.
On the issue of repecting the Funeral…The Minister is correct…. No question but FF are trying to use the media in this matter which i quite frankly find sickening..

Declan, you’re way out of line. The GRA themselves called for the debate to go ahead and no amount of Fine Gael bluster can gloss over that. With respect the stations, some of them, like Lahinch given its proximity to Ennistymon, should indeed be closed. However, there are some that are just farcical. In East Clare for instance they are closing some stations and downgrading others. The net result being that during peak crime hours (late evening/night) the nearest Garda is over 40 minutes away and that’s if there are enough Gardaí in the area to cover any and all situations. Also, you have completely misjudged the national mood. As stated there are case for some closures but the slash and burn cuts the Minister is advocating goes over and above and sends the wrong message to criminals. And finally, this motion was put down last week, before the murder of Garda Donoghue and, as stated above, the Gardaí themselves have said the debate should go ahead. Suggesting otherwise is more party political guff designed to hide the shameful, thoughtless manner in which stations are being closed without public consultation. I suggest you do more “research” into the list of stations Declan.

@Declan – John Parker ex president of the GRA, Damien McCarthy current president of the GRA, Willie Gleeson, President of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, John Redmond, deputy general secretary of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, Mick Carty former head of the Garda Emergency Response Unit and Former garda assistant commissioner Martin Donnellan have all come out and said that Shatters proposal is flawed. Using your argument that areas with low crime rates shouldnt have Garda staions is moronic – the policing model that has served this country well over the years is one based on interaction with the community, where a relationship of mutual trust and respect is developed.

Facts don’t matter in Declan’s small world
he’s a party man and will support them at the expense of everyone else

http://www.garda.ie/Documents/User/Annual%20Report%202011%20English.pdf

Her ya go

Well that’s the 2011 report, so that wouldn’t have the exact answer, in relation to my question.

Looking at that report they don’t, state the difference.

Look at where the stations are and the crime rates recorded in them before you bang on about the closures..

Hey Declan Cotter, just wondering to whom are you referring to when you say “bang on about the closures”?

Get back to work bear!!

Sad thing is that he had the gall to go along there expecting to be greeted.
The man is so removed from reality it’s disturbing.

Was does Dick Roche think about it?

@Declan Cotter
You cop on you muppet!

@Bernadette Dunne
Well said . What does Shatter know , him and his silver spoon mentality . Him and his crones have no idea how front line staff cope with the day to day abuse they suffer from the sc*m they have to deal with.

Thanks Bernadette
he has no manners either!

Frank.
I never got anyone to come or go anywhere to abuse you..full stop… You actually give me a bad taste in my mouth.. and I have asked you to stop trolling every comment i make….
A very big man behind a screen calling me a muppet…

Read your comment Bernadette!!! I think using the death of this fine man as a tool to abuse Minister Shatter is a disgrace… shame on you i say… shame..

Sinead,
You are 100% right… Thank God somebody has some logic..
D

Oh right, so just to point out that that:

1: they are not all stations with 1 Garda, some had up to 30.

2. The rural areas, that had the stations closed are now left without 24hr Garda cover, as some areas the closest 24hr Garda station is up to 70km away.

So how is this a good, thing??

The vast majority of them had one garda sitting there for a few hours a day signing forms. No investigative work could be done or patrols as the station had to be manned. They won’t be missed.

Unfortunately the fact some garda stations are going to be around 20km away is a fact of living in rural Ireland with low population density. At least with the closure of these stations, the garda can patrol the area rather than sitting behind a desk.

Patrol with what exactly? As we have been informed before there is no money to purchase a Garda car for this Garda to patrol. More than likely there was no Garda car at this one man station, and the only interaction the local people had was to go to the station or the Garda on the beat in the local village.

20km where are ya going examples:

1. Leenane Co Galway to close closest 24hr Garda station Clifden 34KM

2. Hollymount Co Mayo, to Close 39KM to Castlebar nearest 24Hr Garda Station

3. Malin Co Donegal, to Close nearest 24hr Garda station Buncranna 26Km

So this is just 3 examples, so driving to a emergency incident or a home been invaded, its going to take at least 15mins for a Garda response, that is if the Garda car is not out at the furthest point of their area.

Yes I believe the Politicians(most but not all) treat the hard working people of Ireland with pure contempt but then they(politicians) have the gall to demand respect so I would imagine you could be right a Great detective Garda died on duty

Abuse again Mike.. Nice… such a nice bunch of people on here…

@ declan cotter…. Just to quote yourself “cop on…. Load of b****x”
Hahaha… And you call me crude you troll.Now crawl back under your enda blanket.
Are you trolling on taxpayers time ?.
Now do yourself a favour and save yourself a lot of hassle and don’t reply to me again.