Smear Garda Station vital to the community

Any attempt to close Smear Garda Station will be stoutly resisted by the local community says John Duffy local election candidate for the Drumlish area. Many rural people are already feeling under threat from burglaries and raids in the area and the closure of the station would only increase their sense of insecurity.
“This type of cost-cutting exercise is undermining Ireland’s traditional close relationship between the rural community and the gardai,” he said. “It’s a false economy because it damages the quality of policing in the long-term, something that we will all pay a price for. If people don’t know their local gardai they are less likely to report suspicious activity, for example. Equally, gardai living miles away won’t know what’s happening the local area.”
Smear Garda Station near Aughnacliffe was listed in a media report as being under threat of closure. Duffy pointed out that this type of centralisation was counter to good planning where facilities should be kept local to prevent people commuting to access services.
“It increases costs for local people as well because they have to travel further to have documents signed at the station. What’s the point of designating Aughnacliffe for development and then withdrawing state services?”