Garda Commissioner visits County Limerick as date revealed for handover of new headquarters

THE NEW Garda District Headquarters in Newcastle West is expected to be handed over to the Office of Public Works (OPW) and An Garda Síochána in October, it was revealed this Friday.

Minister of State at the Department of Justice Niall Collins welcomed the update which he received from the contractor, Conack Construction, at a site visit to the building today.

He was accompanied by Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran, and the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Patrick O’Donovan.

A number of senior members of An Garda Siochana were also present, including Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly, Chief Superintendent Derek Smart, Superintendent Michael Fleming, Inspector Gearoid Thompson and Sergeant Dermot Cummins.

Mr Collins said: “Today we received the very welcome news that Conack Construction will be in a position to handover the new Garda District Headquarters in Newcastle West to the OPW and An Garda Síochána in October of this year. Once completed, it will be a gamechanger for policing in rural Limerick.”

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The minister of state thanked both Mr Moran and Commissioner Kelly for visiting the site of the new District Headquarters in Newcastle West. 

“As the Minister for the OPW, Mr Moran oversees the management of the garda estate in co-operation with the garda Authorities so it was hugely beneficial for him to see the progress made on this essential piece of policing infrastructure first-hand.

“The site visit of Mr Moran and the Commissioner to Newcastle West follows on from the visit of my party and Departmental colleague, Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan, after taking office last year,” said Mr Collins.

The Newcastle West Garda District Headquarters building will be a state-of-the-art policing facility providing a superb working environment for garda, he said.

"It is one of many projects being delivered by the OPW and An Garda Síochána, with the support of the Department of Justice, “to improve and modernise garda facilities across the country”.

“The Newcastle West project showcases the close collaboration between the OPW, An Garda Síochána and the Department of Justice, highlighting their unified approach to delivering major capital projects,” concluded Mr Collins.