Paraic Brady (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise a number of issues affecting my local village of Drumlish and Ballinamuck. The credit union in Ballinamuck closed a little less than six months ago and it is now being raised that our local credit union in Drumlish is due to close in the coming months. We have also received notification that our local post office is in danger of closing and is under review.

Our two local gardaí, Donal Madden and Justin Browne - I have permission to name them - who have given significant service to the community, have now retired. This leaves us with one garda to maintain a huge rural area in north Longford. I urge the Minister for Justice to come to this House to address the concerns about the lack of numbers of gardaí in rural stations. We have seen an increase in the number of gardaí on the streets of Dublin and other cities but we must not forget that the rural people of Ireland expect a service and need to be protected too. I hope that will be addressed sooner rather than later.

Unfortunately, a local publican, Tom Cassidy, who served the community for 18 years retired last Sunday. Tom has been a great servant to the community in Drumlish and Ballinamuck for many years. We ran charity events and raised funds and he made his premises available free of charge to the local community for fundraisers. He supported our community for a number of years. I hope this is not a trend that is coming whereby we lose gardaí, post offices, credit unions and local pubs. I hope some of this can be addressed.