Minister turns sod on new Cork county garda divisional headquarters in Macroom

The start of construction on the new multi-million-euro Cork county garda divisional headquarters at Macroom marks a significant investment in the county, garda commissioner Justin Kelly has said.

Mr Kelly was speaking at the sod-turning on Friday morning, which he performed alongside justice minister Jim O’Callaghan and minister of state with responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW), Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran.

The commissioner said An Garda Síochána had proudly served Macroom from a mid-19th century station for more than 100 years, but a new building was required to meet the modern policing needs of the region.

“This development reflects a significant capital investment in policing infrastructure and will provide Garda personnel with modern, fit-for-purpose facilities to support the delivery of a responsive, community-focused policing service across Macroom and the wider County Cork area,” he said.

The new station will comprise 4,338 square metres of modern facilities and is expected to be completed by the latter half of 2028.

The County Cork division, which consists of the old Cork North and Cork West divisions, includes all of the county, apart from Cork city. The Cork County division has a population of more than half a million people, and covers one eighth of Ireland’s national roads network.

Asked whether a single divisional headquarters was sufficient for such a big area, Mr O’Callaghan said operational matters were for the commissioner, but added: “Cork is well serviced and served by An Garda Síochána”. 

Mr Kelly said it had not been suggested to him that a rethink was needed on the amalgamated Cork County division but would consider the matter if it arose.

The commissioner was asked whether tasers, which were issued to 128 uniformed gardaí as part of a six-month pilot scheme in Dublin, Kilkenny and Waterford in December, have been used.

“They have been withdrawn from their holsters, and, really beneficially in my view, they have de-escalated a number of situations, but they haven’t been fired,” Mr Kelly said.

Mr Kelly and Mr O'Callaghan both paid tribute to the late Fine Gael councillor Michael Creed, who passed away last Sunday, as someone who had long advocated the building of a new garda station for Macroom.