Cllr Cathal Crowe responds to last week’s story.
Well I did say I would publish his statement in it’s entirety so here it is. There still remains the question as to whether someone can walk into a business premises, remove an item from the window without asking, and cycle off.
The view on a Garda station in Westbury is not the disturbing issue here. it is the removal of items from a business premises without asking.
Anyway I will comment no further.
From Counciller Cathal Crowe:
I wish to make my position clear regarding the possibility of a new Garda facility for the Westbury area.
For several months I have had concerns about Ardnacrusha Garda Station. In the last fortnight the gardaí based at the station have been without their regular patrol car and perhaps more worryingly the station has been left without a sergeant for several months. Against the back-drop of the un-lawful killing of a local youth and a number of aggressive incidents I have taken it upon myself to write to the Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern T.D. seeking assurances that the station at Ardnacrusha will remain open and continue to receive the support of his department in the months and years ahead.
I have called on the Minister to:
•Commit to keeping the garda station open.
•Renovate and / or extend the current garda station building so as to have it.
•Extend the opening hours of the facility bearing in mind the considerable local area it serves.
•Bolster the garda presence in the locality by assigning additional gardaí to the station, increasing the number of patrols and allocating the necessary resources to equip the gardaí to police the area.If assurances are given by the Minister then I will have no problem in endorsing plans to establish a new garda facility for the Westbury area. I would want such a facility to co-exist Ardnacrusha station rather than resulting in it’s downgrading or closure. Thousands of people and several centres of population depend on the gardaí at Ardnacrusha and it is important that any proposals for a new garda facility at Westbury be cognisant of this fact.
I am aware that Tony Hayes, proprietor of the Westbury Stores, has suggested that a building owned by him adjacent to his shop would be suitable for the gardaí to establish a base. I have no problem with Tony or any other landlord in the area wishing to enter talks with the Office of Public Works regarding such a facility. Indeed, if I receive positive correspondence from the Minister for Justice regarding the future of the Ardnacrusha Station I will channel all my energy into the realisation of this.
I have made this position very clear to Tony and find it regrettable that he has chosen to misrepresent me locally. I took offence to the fact that Tony taped a page from last week’s Clare Champion to the front door of his shop last weekend and highlighted a paragraph that said that I was “opposed” to a new garda station for the area. The highlighted section of the article was framed in a way that suggested I am completely opposed to this. This is not the case.As I have already mentioned I am supportive of a garda base that would co-exist with Ardnacrusha. I am also looking at tangible short term solutions such as assigning more gardaí to Ardnacrusha and increasing patrols of the area. I am trying to take a pragmatic approach to this. It is a time for all interested parties to channel their energies into how best to address the local policing issues and not engage in provocative or trivial arguments.
I wish also to confirm that Minister Willie O’Dea and I plan on sitting down with our Labour colleagues Jan O’Sullivan TD and Cllr. Pascal Fitzgerald with the view to establishing a neighbourhood watch committee for the Westbury – Shannon Banks and Carraig Midhe area.