Locals in Ferrybank have renewed calls for the community's Garda Station to be manned full-time.
The station currently only operates on a part-time basis despite Ferrybank being one of the largest urban centres in both Waterford and Kilkenny.
Concerns have been expressed that the area is being seen as a soft touch by those involved in criminality.
Cllr. Eamon Quinlan says there are fears that problems may get worse without a full-time station.
"The garda station is located across the road from the parish church and while completely owned by the State, it is only manned ‘from time to time’."
"The growing population in Ferrybank as well as the increasing activity around the North Quays Development, leading to tailbacks to get across to Ferrybank for responding vehicles has given a sharper increase to local, longstanding calls for the Gardai to maintain a full-time presence in their Ferrybank Station."
Commenting on this, local Councillor Eamon Quinlan said: “I disagree in principle with the idea of having garda stations that are not staffed full time. People need to know there is a presence there if they need help, instead of trying to time their visits to the station in the hope of catching a garda. Ferrybank now has 6,000 people living in it and is growing. This makes it the largest urban centre outside Kilkenny City itself and to have no full-time garda presence in the area is ridiculous when you look at smaller towns and villages around County Kilkenny that do have them. The area has long coasted on the fact that Gardai can be dispatched from Ballybricken Station but with the road and lane closures heading into Ferrybank from the Bridge, the ability of cars to get over there promptly has been compromised.
"The development of the North Quays will only make this worse", he continued. "Coupled with this the area is full of ‘Ministers and Millions’. Government Ministers are heavily advertising that we will have up to half a billion euros being spent on the North Quays leaving a lot of expensive machinery, equipment etc in place. When completed, between retail, apartments and offices, there will be a considerable amount of people, their money and their property, all of which will be tempting targets to organised criminal elements if they know the nearest garda presence on the Kilkenny side is Mooncoin and on the Waterford side, there is a significant delay in garda vehicles even getting to this side of the river. The more Ferrybank is allowed to slip through the cracks into a blind spot, the more tempting a target it will become. Only a full-time, manned garda station, with garda cars, will provide the type of rapid response for the wider area that is needed and this need will only escalate”.
Various public groups based in Ferrybank have called for a full-time, staffed Garda Station. A public meeting held some years ago in the then parish hall saw senior gardai meet with locals who appraised the gardai of drug use in the area, even within sight of the unmanned Garda Station. It was felt, that those engaging in such activity, felt the area was a soft touch, as they could tell when the station was closed. Peak times, such as when traffic was tail-backed in the morning and evening after work, meant criminals knew when to engage in their activity as Rice Bridge along with the Dock Road slowed any cars coming from Ballybricken Station. Gardai at the time committed to continuously monitor the situation.
“I attended that meeting and spoke with senior Garda Officers about the challenges facing policing in the area. The delays, and how they were liable to only increase. Well, we were all correct. Much of what we have anticipated has come to pass with more on the way. Presumably the station, like most, is under the auspices of the OPW and so the costs of bringing it up to fully staffed should be minimal. For example, the Gardai are already on duty, and the building is owned, so it's just a small jump in usage of the building's utilities. Everything else is already backed in."
"The perception of the community is a powerful thing and I don’t know if the decision makers realise just how reassuring to the wider Ferrybank community it would be to have a full-time Garda presence in the heart of the community. From speaking to many Gardai, they acknowledge, that Gardai reliably placed into a community become known to that community. It builds confidence and locals feel assured they can then pass up information they witness concerning criminal activity. This is invaluable in tackling long-term anti-social behaviour and more organised criminal elements. I feel with the North Quays ramping up, we are only making the area more tempting. Ferrybank deserves better than this.”, said Cllr Quinlan.
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