BY DECLAN TIERNEY

The controversial process of downgrading Salthill Garda Station is expected to commence during 2013 which will ultimately result in fewer Gardaí covering the Salthill-Knocknacarra area, which has a population of more than 20,000 residents.

Sources within the Department of Justice have told the Galway City Tribune that as part of a major rationalisation plan, Salthill Garda Station will be downgraded from a district headquarters and will no longer be open 24-hours a day.

While the Department source said that round-the-clock cover would be provided in Salthill and Knocknacarra through mobile patrols, the number of Gardaí attached to the station would be dramatically reduced and it would only be open for a set number of hours during the day.

The source said that that the continued rationalisation of the policing services would prioritise the closure of ‘one man’ Garda stations across rural parts of Galway before the amalgamation of district headquarters would be proceeded with.

Back in the mid 1990s, Salthill had a sizeable Garda Station with 28 members attached and then it was upgraded to a district headquarters and covered sub-districts like Oughterard, Spiddal, Inverin, Carraroe, Lettermore, Rosmuc, Moycullen and Kilronan. The number of Gardaí attached to the station more than doubled at the time.

There is now every possibility of the Garda Station in Salthill ending up with just a sergeant and a handful of guards.

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.