Donegal Garda shake-up will seek to build community relations

A fresh overhaul of the Garda Districts in Donegal will look to put community engagement back at the heart of the force's operations.

Gardai have been holding a series of community engagement meetings around Donegal in recent weeks to discuss the policing plan for 2023 as well as giving talks on cyber crime, internet safety, fraud and home security.

Currently the Donegal Garda Division is divided into four districts: Letterkenny (which is the Divisional headquarters) Milford, Buncrana and Ballyshannon.

At a meeting in Falcarragh on Wednesday night, Milford-based Superintendent David Kelly outlined the plans for a new model that will see the county divided into three 'community engagement areas'.

The plans remain in early stages with a new Chief Superintendent, Aidan Glackin, having only been appointed to succeed the long-serving Terry McGinn in December. Chief Superintendent Glackin also oversees the Sligo and Leitrim Divisions.

Under the new model, which will see the district boundaries redrawn, the Fanad peninsula and the areas around north-west Donegal would most likely come under the Letterkenny umbrella with a cut-off point expected somewhere in the west Donegal area.

Superintendent Kelly reiterated the recent comments of Garda Commissioner Drew Harris that more stations would not face closure under the new model.

Commissioner Harris was grilled by members of the Donegal Joint Policing Committee (JPC) during a meeting with the group at the County House in Lifford in January. Fears were raised about the impact of the new model on an already-stretched force in Donegal.

“We will be engaging more with the public,” Superintendent Kelly said. “Some things take me away from the actual policing function. That will now be divested from me.”

A detective superintendent is expected to be appointed to the division with another superintendent likely to be appointed to oversee matters such as governance and discipline with civil service employees to take care of human resource management, salary payments and other administrative duties.

“In theory, that will reduce the workload of the superintendent, and more inspectors will take on certain roles,” Superintendent Kelly said. “With the new model, I would hope to get out to more things like this.”

Ten years ago, Glenties Garda Station lost its status as a district headquarters. In that shake-up, the Milford district was expanded and took in areas of west Donegal, including Gweedore and Dungloe with areas of south of the Gweebarra bridge going under the remit of the Ballyshannon district.

The importance of engagement with community alert groups, residents' associations and schools was highlighted. Text alert systems will be reviewed and new groups have been encouraged to get on board.

“There is a pastoral element to being a Garda and we don't want to lose that,” Superintendent Kelly said.

“Many hands make light work. We want to hear what communities think about what we're doing. We also want to hear from young people, who may think we are doing this right or that wrong. Your voices are important.”

Some people have expressed frustration with a lack of Gardai in rural stations during times when they are timetables.

“They just may not be in office at the time; they could be out on calls,” Superintendent Kelly, whose current role takes in 12 stations, said. “I would love to guarantee that there would be a Garda in the station 24-7.

“We would love to see more Gardai. We are all from communities. We are very proud that we are the guardians of peace.”

There have been some big changes in personnel among the Gardai in Donegal.

Chief Superintendent Glackin's apponitment was followed by new Superintendent allocations in the county. Superintendent Goretti Sheridan replaced the retired Michael Finan in Letterkenny while Superintendent Sheridan was succeeded by Barry Doyle in Buncrana.