The sale of a closed Garda
station in South Wexford is a slap in the face to hundreds of people living in
fear of burglars across the district. That's
the view of Mick Roche, a local election candidate, who believes that the sale
of the barracks in Baldwinstown for €75,000 last week will do nothing to tackle
the home break epidemic that has plagued the south of the county in recent
years.
"South Wexford has
experienced a crime epidemic over the past few years," Mr Roche said,
"And the government's response has been to close rural garda
stations. Recently four businesses in
the village of Bridgetown have been broken in to and vandalised. This is only three miles away from the former
Garda station in Baldwinstown which was sold by the Office of Public Works for
€75,000 last week."
"The sale of this station
will do little to instil confidence in people who are literally living in fear
of further break ins. I have spoken to
several elderly people living alone who told me that they can only sleep during
daylight hours due to the terrible fear they are experiencing. How can they be expected to welcome this
sale?"
"I would be very interested
to know where the money earned in this sale will be invested. Will any of it come back into South Wexford
and be used to combat the continuing crime problem? Will it be used to fund some of the volunteer
community alert initiatives in the locality that have been formed out of vital
necessity? I have asked the Sinn Féin
team in Leinster House to raise this in the Dail for me as a matter of
urgency."
"Both the IFA and the Garda
Representatives Association, two powerful bodies who understand the crime
crisis facing rural Ireland, have rejected the plan popularised by Fine Gael,
Fianna Fail and Labour politicians to close and sell barracks across the
state. The sale of Baldwinstown Garda
Station is a regressive step and it looks like the funds acquired will have
absolutely no benefit for the people of County Wexford."
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