Garda divisional headquarters for Mullingar

Navan's loss of the Garda divisional headquarters have been described as a “serious kick in the teeth’ for the town.
Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris today announced that Mullingar will be the headquarters for the newly merged Meath/Westmeath division.
Local representatives have expressed concern about how personnel will be redeployed under the merger.
Deputy Shane Cassells called for a huge capital investment in garda infrastructure in Meath and particularly in Navan, saying he was very disappointed by the decision.
"Meath has lost out in this and we need to be a focus now for big investment," he said.
Deputy Peadar Toibin said;“This is a serious kick in the teeth. Meath always seems to lose out when it comes to mergers”.
The reorganisation is part of Garda Commissioner Drew Harris’s new model for policing and is the biggest restructuring of the force in modern times.
Before an Oireachtas Committee last week, the Commissioner insisted that the new model would provide more frontline gardaí, increased Garda visibility, and a wider range of policing services in local communities. He announced today the number of Garda divisions from 28 to 19, and the number of Garda regions from six to four. Local Garda districts will no longer be headed by a superintendent, with senior officers now working across an entire division covering specific areas, such as crime or community engagement.
According to a Garda statement a wide range of operational factors was considered when deciding where the new Regional and Divisional Headquarters should be based. These factors included: population, geography, projected growth, crime trends and workload across a range of work streams.
The new Eastern Regional Headquarters will be located in Kilkenny and the Meath Westmeath division will be located in Mullingar.
The headquarters of the merged Louth/Cavan/Monaghan division will be in Drogheda.
Deputy Cassells said; “The statistics speak volumes. We have nearly half the amount of gardai that Westmeath has per head of population, and redeploying guards into Navan, Trim and Ashbourne is not going to be an easy task.
“I am calling on the Minister for Justice to deliver funding for Meath because currently we are bottom of the ladder.
“Meath also has some of the poorest standard of Garda buildings in the country and while Mullingar and Athlone are both getting new stations we are getting sticking plaster works in the main station in Navan,” he said.