The Minister for Justice must provide clarity and reassurance to communities that they will not lose vital garda resources when Ireland takes on the EU Presidency, according to Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne.<\/p>\n
Deputy Hearne, who represents Dublin North-West, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reports that Ballymun garda station is due to lose at least 10 garda\u00ed to redeployment for the duration of the EU presidency are extremely concerning. There are suggestions that a number of garda\u00ed will also be redeployed from Finglas.<\/p>\n
\u201cBallymun and Finglas are communities in dire need of more high visibility policing, additional community garda\u00ed, and youth diversion programmes. We should not be cutting their resources under any circumstances.<\/p>\n
\u201cTaking garda resources away from these communities flies in the face of the recommendations of the Ballymun – A Brighter Future report, the work of the Ballymun Implementation Board, and the consistent calls from the community for additional supports.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Government recently announced, to great fanfare, that additional Garda\u00ed were being assigned to Ballymun and Finglas stations from May\u2019s graduating class in Templemore, but now it appears they will rip those resources away from these communities for the duration of the EU Presidency.<\/p>\n
\u201cDisadvantaged communities cannot pay the price of Ireland hosting EU events and delegates. We need a guarantee of maintaining and increasing community policing in Finglas and Ballymun, and a scrapping of these reductions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am calling on the Minister to confirm that no Garda\u00ed from Ballymun and Finglas will be taken away from serving the communities who need them. There have been multiple serious incidents in Ballymun this year, and I have written to the Garda Commissioner requesting a meeting on this issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn February last year, Minister for Justice Jim O\u2019Callaghan said that he is conscious that Ballymun \u2018is an area which requires investment,\u2019 but said that he did not think \u2018there will be any shortage of commitment from the Government on that.\u2019 We\u2019re now seeing the opposite.<\/p>\n
\u201cCommunities across Ireland have a right to feel safe and secure. We need additional visible policing, especially community garda\u00ed, alongside long-term community resourcing and youth diversion measures.<\/p>\n
\u201cMinister O\u2019Callaghan must stick to this commitment and continue to invest in the Ballymun and Finglas communities, not take away their resources.\u201d<\/p>\n
June 18th, 2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Minister for Justice must provide clarity and reassurance to communities that they will not lose vital garda resources when Ireland takes on the EU Presidency, according to Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne. Deputy Hearne, who represents Dublin North-West, said: \u201cThe reports that Ballymun garda station is due to lose at least 10 garda\u00ed to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":15487,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[496,7,510],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-garda","category-press-release","category-rory-hearne"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n