28 August 2003: It looks as though Gardaí in Rathangan will be going back to school later this month when a new Gárda Station costing E420,000 will be open in what was previously an old school house. However, the question on some resident’s minds in Rathangan is whether or not the Gardaí will be attending class on a regular basis.
At present, the Gárda station in Rathangan, which is expected to be completed and ready for occupation by the Gardaí next month is generally unmanned, except for a Gárda Sergeant and another Gárda who open the station for a couple of hours a day and has been working on the “Green Man Communications system”.
This system currently operates on the premise that when the station is not manned, the public can obtain assistance by ringing a buzzer on the station’s door, which is then transferred to Kildare Gárda Station.
However, questions were raised as to whether or not it was really necessary to spend E420,000 on new premises, if it was only operating part-time and would it not have been better to invest the money in extra Gárda manpower for the area?
A statement from the Minister for Justice’s office said that “Once the building is handed over by the OPW to the Gardaí it is up to the Gárda authorities to decide how it will be used”. This according to the Minister’s office means that the Minister or his office is not responsible for how many members of the force are assigned to the new station or its hours of opening” and could therefore not comment on the issue.
According to Superintendent John Murphy of Kildare Gárda Station, who is responsible for Rathangan, “there are no plans to change to current operating system of the new Station in Rathangan when it opens.” He said that the decision was taken to build the new station because the current building, which they occupy, was a serious health hazard, and was in a state of terrible disrepair. He added that the station so dilapidated that it was just not possible to repair or renovate it any further.
The new Gárda station has seen costs of E420,000, spent on refurbishing the old school house back to its former glory, with solid wooden flooring, traditional fittings and fixtures and sash windows fitted throughout and no detail has been left to chance with even the old school sign still on display, in keeping with the character of the building.
