Clifden — this is Athenry and Monivea calling!

Calls to garda stations cause confusion

CONCERN has been expressed that people in the Athenry and Monivea areas are hanging up on their calls to local garda stations when they hear “Clifden Garda Station” on the end of the line.

While callers often feel they’ve made a mistake, gardaí in Galway say while it might seem unusual, it’s just down to the boundary changes as part of a new garda operating model.

When a call can’t be answered or is out of hours for the Athenry and Monivea stations, the calls are transferred to Clifden. Under the new model Athenry, Loughgeorge, Oranmore and Monivea now fall under the Galway West Community Engagement Functional area.

Responding to concerns raised at a recent meeting of the County Joint Policing Committee, Superintendent Paidí O’Shea said when these station offices aren’t open, calls are transferred…

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