Laois town with 9,000 people has two gardaí for four hours a day

Portarlington needs more garda resources, insists Laois TD Brian Stanley, who says the Laois-Offaly town lacks community policing and a manned Garda Station to police criminality despite a rapid growth in population.

With nearly €30 million being invested in Portlaoise Garda Station, the Laois Independent TD insists Garda management must allocate more resources to Portarlington which is the second biggest town in Laois and the Laois Offaly Garda Division.

The town's station opens just four hours a day despite having a population that is double that of Birr, which has a 24-hour staffed Garda Station.

He raised the issue in a statement to the Leinster Express / Laois Live.

“The town of Portarlington currently does not have enough Gardaí to meet the size of the town, and the expanded urban area around it, and this is a matter that's been raised with me by numerous constituents in recent months," he said.

A notice on the door of the Garda station says it opens between 10am and noon and from 7 pm to 9 pm. Dep Stanley claimed this is not always delivered.

"Some evenings it is not open, because it cannot be staffed as there are only two Garda allocated to that area and they may be out on call," he said.

The former Sinn Féin TD outlined the impact.

"This causes huge problems for residents, not to mention the fact that there is a lack of Garda presence in the town. People will go to the station sometimes who are working in Dublin or working away from Portarlington to get passports or other documents signed or for various other business with the Gardai, and there is nobody there, therefore people must call a few times, this isn’t the fault of the Local Gardai it is because they don’t have the resources to go around," he said.

The population of Portarlington jumping by 135% from 9,288 in the two decades to Census 2022. A draft plan for the town  from Laois and Offaly County Councils says the projected population increase for Portarlington by 2027 is 1,000 people.

The town of Birr is also in the Laois Offaly Garda division has a population of less than 5,000 but the south Offaly town's Garda Station is a District HQ. MORE BELOW PICTURE.

Dep Stanley believes something must be done to meet the policing need this population growth has caused in Portarlington.

"Portarlington is the second largest town in the county it has grown and multiplied three times in size over the past two decades. Garda management do deploy specialist units to the town at times, and they are carrying out good work. Like in other areas, there's a certain amount of drug problems and the Gardai are giving that a considerable amount of attention and that's welcome.

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"What's missing in the town, is the absence of community policing and the lack of an actual manned Garda Station on the Main Street of Portarlington," he said.

Dep Stanley said the need is not new, but addressing it is now overdue in the context of investment elsewhere in policing.

"This has been a significant problem for a while, the Station also needs a physical upgrade and is in Several Garda Stations around the State and the county are being upgraded and that's all welcome, including our new Garda Station in Portlaoise.

"It's time for Portarlington, which hasn't got an upgrade for a very long time, to get attention. I have discussed this with the Garda Management, and they are aware this needs to be addressed," he said.

The TD said Garda Management has assured him that Portarlington will now get greater priority in terms of manpower and the next allocation of Gardai into the county be it new recruits or experienced Gardai.

He said he also raised this with the Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan recently in the Dáil where he asked him to put more emphasis on community policing and having a visible Garda presence in particular in Portarlington.

He said he looked forward to submissions being prepared to upgrade work on Port's Garda Station. He said the OPW and the Government must support these to ensure that Portarlington has a modern Garda Station.