Meeting on future of Kilnaleck Garda Station takes place

Superintendent for Cavan John Callanan and the Kilnaleck Development Association discussed the matter.

A meeting on the status of Kilnaleck Garda Station took place on Thursday evening (December 20) with a goal of getting uniformed gardaí assigned to the station for set public hours.

The meeting between Superintendent for Cavan John Callanan and the Kilnaleck Development Association heard there are two specialist units stationed at the premises. Currently the station is not open to the public for general enquiries, however the senior officer emphasised there is still 24/7 policing cover for the area.

A proposal, which arose on the night, was getting “regular weekly opening hours” where members of the public can come for any “general routine enquiries at a Garda station”.

“What we’ve agreed is that I will go away and we will engage again early in the New Year to finalise that.”

“At the moment there is no uniformed members there,” Supt Callanan stated.

The “constructive” meeting heard “concerns” from the group, which included public opening hours at the station.

“Obviously there are concerns within the community about the wider area of public services,” he outlined.

Supt Callanan distinguished between ‘public opening hours’ and ‘policing cover’ at the meeting.

“There is 24-7-365 policing cover for Kilnaleck, as there is for all of Cavan, from units that are stationed within Cavan.

“If a call for service comes in from a member of the public... there’s units ready and they’ll go in order of priority. That cover is unchanged,” he emphasised.

“My priority, along with the community, is to have guards full time assigned to Kilnaleck as a base, uniformed gardaí, and that’s something that I hope to be able to do in the near to medium future.

“There is no downgrading, there is no closure, it is a Garda station that has specialised units there, personnel that are based out of there.

“It’s an operational Garda station,” he assured. “It’s a matter of getting uniformed personnel and I’m confident we will get uniformed personnel in.”

The Inspector stressed there will be garda members “at the counter” constantly in Cavan or Bailieborough.