THE garda station in Ballinspittle will be opened in the second quarter of this year.

The station was among 139 closed during the recession.

However, last year, it was announced that the west Cork one-man station was among six stations across the country which are being reopened by An Garda Síochána.

On foot of a question from Independent TD, Michael Collins, in the Dáil on Tuesday, it was announced by the Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan that the station will reopen in either April, May or June.

The news was welcomed by Con McCarthy of the West Cork Rural Garda Station Retention Campaign, who said that the station and other stations in West Cork should not have been closed. He said: “I feel strongly the 139 stations should not have been closed in the first place.”

Speaking in the Dáil, Deputy Collins said: “I know only too well the fear and worry of rural crime in our communities and especially for isolated people living alone who may be elderly and vulnerable. The prolonged closures of rural garda stations around the country are without a doubt the biggest contributor to the fear that exists around this issue.”

He added: “I have seen at firsthand how the people of Ballinspittle have worked hard together as a community to reopen their garda station and are still waiting for this garda station to reopen despite promises. The people of Ballinspittle and west Cork deserve to know when their garda station will reopen.”