Garda Stations in Small Towns and Rural Villages Simply Must be Open by Night – Hayes

South Tipperary T.D. has called on the Minister for Justice to lengthen the opening hours of rural Garda Stations.

“I am calling on Minister Dermot Ahern to lengthen the opening hours of Garda Stations in South Tipperary and across the country, particularly to cover night shifts in rural Ireland,” Tom Hayes T.D. said today in light of the news that only three Garda Stations in South Tipperary are open 24 hours a day.

“In light of recent news both across the country and specifically, in South Tipperary, of anti-social behaviour, dangerous driving, noise disturbance and the high number of robberies, I am calling on the Minister to open more rural Garda Stations in small towns during the night, and to have rotating shifts in the villages across the country to prevent crime in rural Ireland outside of daylight hours,” Tom Hayes continued.

“The effects of the recession on people’s security in their own homes are very obvious; robberies are much more frequent and people do not feel safe in their own homes. The presence of the Gardaí by night in smaller towns and in villages is one of the most effective and efficient ways to prevent this kind of crime and bring law and order back to our streets and our roads. It is impossible for Gardai in rural Ireland to cover the huge geographical areas when they have so few personnel working by night and no staff available in local stations to respond to calls quickly to the calls at a local level.”

“People are also very concerned about road safety in particular, and about dangerous driving and speeding both in towns and in the countryside. With so few Garda stations open by night (for example, in South Tipperary, only Cahir, Clonmel and Tipperary are open 24 hours a day), it is very difficult for Gardaí to respond to these issues – as the staff working by night are simply too far and too busy to respond to complaints in a timely manner, which often means it is very difficult to prosecute these cases.”

“The Gardai are doing what they can with the resources available to them, but they need more staff and they also need to have regular staff by night in rural areas, and I am strongly advising the Minister for Justice to take this necessity on board when making decisions about Garda allocation and recruitment in coming months,” Tom Hayes concluded.

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QUESTION NO:  369

DÁIL QUESTION addressed to the Minister for Justice and Law Reform (Mr. Ahern)
by Deputy Tom Hayes
 *  To ask the Minister for Justice and Law Reform the opening hours for every Garda station in South Tipperary.

                                                             – Tom Hayes

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REPLY.
I am informed by the Garda Commissioner that the opening hours of each Garda Station in Tipperary is set out hereunder:

Station Opening Hours
Ardfinnan              Mon to Sun  – 10am to 1pm or 2pm to 5pm or 6pm to 9pm
Ballyporeen          Mon to Sun  – 10am to 1pm or 2pm to 5pm or 6pm to 9pm
Cahir                        24 Hours
Cashel                      Mon to Sun – 9am to 5pm
Clogheen                Mon to Sun  – 10am to 1pm or 2pm to 5pm or 6pm to 9pm
New Inn                  Mon to Fri – 10am to 1pm or 3pm to 5pm
Carrick-on-Suir   Mon to Fri – 9am to 1pm or 2pm to 5pm or 7pm to 10pm; Sat and Sun 9am to 1pm or 2pm to 6pm or 7pm to 10pm
Clonmel                  24 Hours
Fethard                  Mon to Sat – 10am to 1pm or 2pm to 5pm; Sun 10am to 1pm or 2pm to 3pm
Grangemockler   Mon to Sat – 10am to 1pm or 2pm to 5pm; Sun 10am to 1pm or 2pm to 3pm
Kilsheelan             Mon to Sun – 10am to 1pm or 2pm to 5pm
Mullinahone        Mon to Sun – 10am to 1pm or 2pm to 5pm
Ballingarry Sth    Mon to Fri – 10am to 11am or 2pm to 3pm or 6pm to 7pm or 8pm to 9pm; Sat – 10am to 11am or 6 pm to 7pm; Sun – 2pm to 3pm or 6pm to 7pm
Killenaule              Mon to Fri – 10am to 11am or 2pm to 3pm or 6pm to 7pm or 8pm to 9pm; Sat – 10am to 11am or 6 pm to 9pm; Sun – 2pm to 3pm or 6pm to 7pm
Bansha                    Mon – Fri 10am to 1pm eary tour, 2pm to 6pm late tour; Sat+Sun 10am to 1pm
Cappawhite           Mon – Fri 10am to 1pm eary tour, 2pm to 6pm late tour; Sat+Sun 10am to 1pm
Dundrum                Mon – Fri 10am to 1pm eary tour, 2pm to 6pm late tour; Sat 10am to 1pm Sun 2pm to 4pm
Emly                         Mon – Fri 10am to 1pm eary tour, 2pm to 6pm late tour Sat+Sun 2pm to 4pm
Golden                     Mon – Fri 10am to 1pm eary tour, 2pm to 6pm late tour Sat+Sun 10am to 1pm
Tipperary               24 Hours