No designated Gardai for Ballivor and Summerhill

Ballivor and Summerhill Garda Stations lost their only designated Gardai last year, leading to a warning that communities are being put at risk.

There is no dedicated gardai for either Balivor or Summerhill stations now, a situation Deputy Johnny Guirke described as "terrible".

He was commenting on figures published in today's Irish Independent which show that almost a quarter of the country’s 560-plus garda stations had fewer gardaí at the end of 2024 than at the start of the year, despite an overall increase in the size of the force.

It also shows that a majority of garda stations – 322, or 57pc – had no change in their staffing levels last year and 116 stations – 20pc – recorded an increase in garda personnel. These included Navan which saw an increase of nine.

Deputy Guirke said that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s failure to address policing numbers is leaving the people of Meath exposed and putting the community at risk.

"It is not good enough that Ballivor and Summerhill lost their garda, at a time of increased crime in these areas."

He said the government's failure to address the problem of too few gardaí to meet the needs of an increased population was a dereliction of duty, that the Minister Jim O’Callaghan must now tackle this issue seriously as a matter of urgency. "This can only be done by increasing the training capacity of An Garda Síochána."

“The lack of gardaí has very serious consequences for our community in terms of deterring crime, investigating crime and ensuring that people feel safe.

“Successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments have failed to properly plan for and address this issue for more than a decade. This is a dereliction of duty, and communities right across the state are now paying the consequences.

“There is a serious problem in terms of garda visibility, particularly in terms of the lack of community gardaí. Until there is a significant increase in the training capacity of An Garda Síochána, this problem will not be fixed."

He said that most of the stations that had a significant increase in number of gardaí were in the Dublin region, while those that lost gardaí were outside of Dublin.

"Our communities cannot be allowed to suffer because of the particular challenges in Dublin.

“Sinn Féin has called for Garda numbers statewide to be increased to 16,000. Minister Jim O'Callaghan, as a matter of urgency, must put a plan in place to achieve this to ensure that every community has a sufficient amount of gardaí assigned to local stations such as ours in Meath.”