New B'boro garda HQ to be completed mid next year

The construction of the new €11 million Garda HQ in Bailieborough is expected to be completed before the middle of next year, the Celt can reveal.

According to a spokesperson for the Office of Public Works (OPW), it's expected that “works, including the extra works” will be completed in the second quarter of 2025.

The project for a new Garda Station includes conservation of the existing former National Irish Bank building and the construction of a new three-storey over basement building to the rear on a site located on the town’s Main Street.

Adston Construction Ltd was appointed contractor in 2022, but the build was held up for the OPW to complete a deal for an adjacent property in the hope of extending the facility eastwards.

The current station, a former RIC barracks on the town's Barrack Street, was previously deemed unsuitable for modern purposes.

To make way for the new HQ, sections of the existing NIB building and some outbuildings had to be demolished.

This new HQ development will connect to the NIB building at both the ground level and first floor level. There will also be a partial plant storey at the roof level of the development.

Planned for since 2007 the project was dogged by delays, not least the Covid pandemic.

The OPW acquired the former bank building in 2018, and it had been hoped that construction might have finished by the end of 2022.