Donegal Sinn Féin -- Building an Ireland of Equals

North Inishowen needs a 24 hour Garda station, not a portacabin- Cllr Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

Published: 28 February, 2010

North Inishowen needs a 24 hour Garda station, not a portacabin- Cllr Pádraig Mac Lochlainn

"Four years of broken promises"

Inishowen Councillor Pádraig Mac Lochlainn has described the period since the Government announced plans for a new 24 hour Garda station for North Inishowen based in Carndonagh as "four years of broken promises".

He was responding to news that the existing Garda Station is now to be refitted and an extended portacabin put in place.

Cllr Mac Lochlainn said:

"Four years ago, then Government Deputy Cecilia Keaveney announced that she had received confirmation of a 24 hour Garda cover for North Inishowen in a new station based in Carndonagh. This was welcomed by all and followed a number of spates of crime across the peninsula".

"Over a year ago, Minister at the Office of Public Works, Martin Mansergh assured the people of Inishowen that a site for a new Garda station in Carndonagh was being actively pursued and that he would give the matter "his personal interest". We now know that all of this has been four years of broken promises.

He concluded:

"It is clear that Carndonagh is being badly failed by this Government. First the closure of Carndonagh Courthouse and now a portacabin in place of the new 24 hour Garda Station. I have asked my colleague and Sinn Féin Dáil leader Caoimhghin O Caoláin to now raise these matters with the Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern and the Minister of State at the Office of Public Works, Martin Mansergh to get a definitive commitment on where they stand. The time for guff is long over. The people of Carndonagh and North Inishowen want straight answers".

ENDS