Drop in Athlone Garda numbers despite recruitment drive

Despite a national Garda recruitment campaign, there are currently ten fewer officers working in the Athlone district than there were at this time last year, according to figures provided to the Westmeath Joint Policing Committee (JPC).

The April meeting of the JPC, a hybrid event held in Athlone Civic Centre and online, was told by Westmeath Chief Superintendent Fergus Healy that the Athlone Garda District was currently being staffed by 92 Gardai.

This was a decrease of almost 10% on the figure of 102 Gardai in the Athlone district which was provided at the JPC meeting in April of last year.

The drop in Garda numbers locally was queried by Cllr Paul Hogan. "Can we get an explanation why, even though there's a national recruitment drive for An Garda Siochana, the numbers in Athlone are actually down on this time last year?" he asked.

The number of sworn Garda members of all ranks in Westmeath as a whole was 256, an increase of three on the figure from this time last year.

Chief Supt Healy said some new Garda recruits had been based in Westmeath during the pandemic but when the training college in Templemore reopened they had to return there to continue their training.

He said other factors which contributed to the decreased numbers in Athlone were retirements and Gardai being appointed to the force's Protective Services Unit in the town.

"There's a recruitment campaign going on at the moment to recruit an extra 800 guards. That's been approved by the Government, and we will benefit from that in due course," said Chief Supt Healy.

Cllr Hogan asked if it was known how many of the 800 additional recruits would end up in this area, but Chief Supt Healy said Westmeath would be "competing for resources with all other parts of the country," and would have to make its case for an allocation of extra staff.

Michael Mulvey, an Athlone-based community member on the Joint Policing Committee, said there was a need for more community Gardai in the town.

"The only time we see a guard in my area is when something's going on, and the squad car comes up. You never see a guard patrolling the area," he said.

The new Garda Superintendent for Athlone, Michelle Baker, said a restructuring of staff resources was taking place at the moment and she was hopeful it would lead to more resources in the area of community policing.

"We're hoping to re-energise and re-focus. We're adjusting our focus from Covid. Society is fully open and people are back to their normal activities," she said.

Supt Baker added that community policing was "definitely a priority" of hers, and that she would look to ring-fence Garda resources for community policing where possible.