Garda Commissioner urged to visit Mayo following claims of Dublin-dominated new recruit allocations
Mayo councillor Michael Loftus has renewed an invitation to Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly to visit the county, reiterating his call for the reinstatement of a local Garda division and a Chief Superintendent.
Cllr Loftus has also asked for clarity on how Gardaí are allocated, amid concerns that Mayo is not receiving its fair share of new recruits.
At the February meeting of Mayo County Council, he highlighted the recent passing out of intake 252 of An Garda Síochána, which took place on Friday, February 6.
Of the 167 new Gardaí sworn in that day, he informed his colleagues that three were stationed to Mayo; two in Ballina and one in Castlebar.
He pointed out that, combining the latest intake with the previous one, 191 out of 371 Gardaí were assigned to Dublin. This includes 104 from intake 252 and 87 from intake 251.
“This is absolutely unbelievable,” Cllr Loftus said. “That’s over 50pc of the guards ending up in Dublin.”
He expressed concern over the impact on Mayo, noting that Gardaí born in the county and surrounding areas are frequently posted to Dublin for their experiential learning and rarely return.
“We don’t have any Gardai coming from Dublin back down to Mayo. One of the hardest divisions to get back into is Mayo,” he said.
Mayo, he added, “exports so many people for different jobs but especially for An Garda Síochána, and they go to Dublin and they never get to come back.”
Cllr Loftus said he wants Mr Kelly to explain why Gardaí are not returning to the county, and inform councillors on how postings are decided.
His call was seconded by Cllr Michael Burke who said the council should write to Mr Kelly again.
The remarks follow a motion Cllr Loftus brought to last month’s council meeting, calling for Mayo to have its own Garda division and Chief Superintendent.
At the time, he noted that the current Mayo, Roscommon, and Longford Division covers a vast area, from Granard in Longford to Blacksod in Mayo, and argued that the county needs its own force to address local policing needs.
Cllr Loftus stressed that Commissioner Kelly’s invitation remains open to respond to these concerns and provide clarity on Garda allocation in Mayo.
Today's News in 90 - Thursday February 12
The Fianna Fail representative was recently appointed Chairman of the Mayo branch of the Local Community Safety Partnership (LCSP).
One of 36 groups across Ireland supported by the Department of Justice, LCSPs are tasked with developing tailored Community Safety Plans to address local needs and improve policing outcomes in their areas.
This article has been funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.