40 police stations no longer open

THERE are four times the number of border crossing points than there were 20 years ago, yet 43% of police stations on either side of the border have been shut in that time. An analysis by Belfast investigative website The Detail last year found 40 police stations within a 10-mile radius of the border have been closed by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and An Garda Síochána. In 1998, there were 92 police stations within a 10-mile radius. Today, 52 stations remain operational, although most are parttime or have limited public opening hours.

In the South, just seven of the 41 stations are open 24 hours a day, while in the North none of the 11 border stations are open.

Meanwhile, the number of border crossing points have quadrupled. There are now 102 crossing points in Monaghan alone compared to 26 in the 1990s. In Cavan/ Monaghan there are 169 border crossings.

The number of gardaí policing the border area has fallen by 13 per cent in the last eight years. In 2010 there were 413 guards,

and now there are approximately 360. Garda James Morrisroe said: ‘That’s with retirements mainly. They’re sending probationers, but not at the rate we need them.’

Along the border knowledge is key, but there are fears this is being lost as resources are being centralised with no sign of this changing as Brexit approaches.

A source told the MoS: ‘There is no contingency plan for Brexit. Do they pull the stunt that they relocate 200 students coming out of the college on the day they’re supposed to be going to their original stations? Do they relocate to the border?

‘That’s no good, the border area needs a certain level of knowledge to police it and 200 falls far short of what is needed. When they got the guarantee of the backstop, they thought they didn’t need a contingency plan, but the whole thing is a mess.’