Government has undermined gardai by closing stations

I visited my local Garda station recently to get a passport application signed. When I say local, I mean of course the station located closest to my village. You see, our little part-time station was closed down in 2012 as part of the Government's fight against crime.

But we're one of the lucky areas. Our former Garda station isn't being sold-off - at least not yet - and will be handed over to two deserving local groups for community use. So every cloud etc.

But I digress. The guard dealing with my passport application was a decent fella and probably represents the majority of hardworking, dedicated members of the force in this country. There's little doubt that the whistleblower's allegations and the suspected bugging controversy have had a major impact on rank and file morale. How could they not?

The Taoiseach himself said at the Fine Gael Ard Fheis over the weekend that those who seek to undermine the gardai should hang their heads in shame. But it seems to me that the Government is doing a pretty decent job of undermining the Garda Siochana themselves by closing rural and urban stations, reducing opening hours and starving the force of vital resources such as patrol cars.

The guard I spoke to said the lack of cars within the division - and specifically at his station - had gone beyond a joke and was seriously impeding their ability to react to crimes. It means, for instance, that they often can't respond quickly to reports of burglaries, unless they happen to occur within walking distance of the station. Sometimes the gardai themselves get so frustrated that they even consider using their own private cars but are precluded from doing so by the regulations.

The Dail heard a claim recently that 300 patrol cars could have been purchased had penalty points not been cancelled. When you speak to gardai on the ground, you realise how much of a difference this funding would have made had it been channelled back into Garda resources.

The Dublin village I live in was once considered to be semi-rural but saw a population explosion during the building boom of the Celtic Tiger. If anything we now need more policing to reflect this new reality, not less. There has been a spate of burglaries in my immediate area since the Garda station closed. Maybe it's just a coincidence but I don't remember break-ins in our estate on such a scale before then.

Neighbours resorted to looking out for each other, particularly when they were going to be away from their homes overnight or for long periods during the day. Some were forced to go to the expense of updating their alarms or installing expensive CCTV equipment. Local Facebook pages became virtual crime prevention sites.

In some cases the same houses were repeatedly targeted. Those responsible felt they could rob with impunity. Because if you're a low-life criminal intent on ransacking a stranger's home, a town with no Garda station is a good place to start.