The new Garda Divisional Headquarters currently under construction on the Dublin Road will be operational by the first quarter of 2018.
That’s according to Galway’s Garda Chief who told a meeting of the Galway City Joint Policing Committee that the €15 million facility will serve as an “administrative hub” for the force.
Chief Superintendent Tom Curley said that the 8,000 square metre building at Murrough will also serve as a base for all specialist units of the Gardaí.
“It’s not going to be a 24-hour station – Murrough is going to be an administrative hub for the western region,” he said.
In effect, the new facility will be open for 12-hours per day and frontline policing duties will be left to existing stations in the city.
Seeking to quash any fears that services currently available at Mill Street and Salthill Garda Stations would be damaged by its opening, Chief Supt Curley said they would still remain central to the public’s interaction with the force.
“I can guarantee that there will be no resources taken from Salthill.
“Mill Street, to me, is the ‘accident and emergency’ department,” he said. “There will be no depletion of resources there.”
The Murrough facility has been dubbed a ‘Centre of Excellence’ for the West of Ireland and while Chief Supt Curley’s Galway Divisional Team will be headed to the east of the city, frontline officers under Superintendent Marie Skehill will be staying put in the city.
“We are talking about the build being finished by October or November and being operational in the first quarter of next year.
“Superintendent Skehill’s staff will remain in Mill Street,” he said.
Chief Supt Curley claimed that provisions have been sought for a specialist dog unit – something he said would be vital in the battle against the city’s growing drugs problem.
The new headquarters will include dedicated victim-support facilities, as well as dedicated units for fingerprinting, crime scene investigation and a property and exhibit store.
Chief Supt Curley confirmed that it will also be the divisional detention centre and would improve the Galway Division’s custodial facilities greatly.
It will also feature training facilities in the area of firearms and continuous professional development with a view to establishing the headquarters as a centre of excellence for training Gardaí.
The facility will be spread over one, four and five storeys and will facilitate parking for some 220 cars.
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