Bboro barracks could be hot potato for four dil hopefuls

- Paul Neilan -


One of the general election battle grounds for the county looks like it will be centred on Bailieborough’s Garda barracks.
The station has long been unsuitable for policing purposes for the 50-odd staff and gardaí based there - a recent report deemed it “Third World” and a health and security risk.
Three sitting TDs have, this week, taken up the issue in statements to this paper.
Recently, a joint statement was issued by Fine Gael TDs Heather Humphreys and Bailieborough’s own Deputy Joe O’Reilly saying that a new station had been prioritised by Garda management and that now the Office of Public Works (OPW) is seeking to take out ads in papers asking locals for suitable sites after their own searches proved fruitless.
“The Justice Minister has confirmed that the provision of a new Garda Station in Bailieborough has been identified as a priority for 2015,” read the FG joint-statement.
“As no suitable State-owned sites are available, the OPW will be seeking offers of suitable sites, so I would encourage local landowners and businesses to keep an eye on the local media for a notice in the coming weeks,” said Monaghan TD and Arts Minister Heather Humphreys.
Deputy O’Reilly added:
“The development of a new Garda station in Bailieborough has been a priority for me since my election in 2011. I have been consistently making the case for a new station for the town. I am delighted that my calls have been listened to and that Minister Fitzgerald is now prioritising the construction of a new Garda station in Bailieborough.
“I raised the issue with both the previous Minister, Alan Shatter TD, and the current Minister, Frances Fitzgerald TD, and I am very pleased that plans for a new District Headquarters are now moving forward. I will continue to monitor progress in the coming months and I hope construction can continue as soon as a new site is acquired.”

Parliamentary questions
However, the day after the FG statement was issued, Cavan Fianna Fáil TD Brendan Smith said he received an unsatisfactory answer in the Dáil on the very same matter after he tabled a written parliamentary question.
The statement from his office to this paper was titled 'No change for Bailieborough Garda District Headquarters – Smith’ and outlined a response from the justice minister, most likely prepared days earlier.
He was told: “Garda management is actively engaged with the OPW to improve, in the more immediate term, the working conditions at the existing station at Bailieborough and awaits proposals from the OPW in order to develop the matter further.
“In that regard, I am informed by the OPW that the acquisition of a site for development of a new District Headquarters in Bailieborough has been identified by An Garda Síochána as a priority for 2015.
“I am further informed by the OPW that a review of State owned sites in the area was conducted to identify any suitable sites for the development of a new Garda Station in Bailieborough.
“No suitable State-owned site was identified. The OPW will shortly place a notice in local and national media seeking offers of suitable sites.
“I am informed by the Garda authorities that the provision of a new Garda District Headquarters at the location referred to by the Deputy will continue to be pursued in the context of An Garda Síochána’s identified accommodation priorities and in the light of available resources within the Vote of the Office of Public Works,” said Minister Fitzgerald in the Dáil.
Deputy Smith told The Anglo-Celt that “this is basically the same reply I have been receiving for months now from the Minister and he has asked that both the Department of Justice and the OPW advance without further delay all the necessary preparatory work to ensure that proper and modern accommodation is provided for the Garda District Headquarters in Bailieborough”.
Should Fianna Fáil’s poll-topper in the local elections and another Bailieborough local, Cllr Niamh Smyth, get her desired nod in the general election, the station is set to be a priority issue for four Dáil candidates, the timing of which have local gardaí partly cynical yet also hopeful of a solution in this, a possible election year, on a station built in the 1800s.