Closing Lisnaskea police station would 'create a criminal paradise' and leave locals vulnerable - UUP
The closure of a key border police station would leave people in a wide area of Fermanagh extremely vulnerable, and create a “criminal paradise”, an Ulster Unionist peer has warned.
Lord Tom Elliott believes the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) station at Lisnaskea could be at risk of closure and/or disposal as the force further shrinks its physical estate.
He has said that any plan to close the station – the only one serving East Fermanagh – will be vigorously resisted.
“Lisnaskea Police Station and its neighbourhood team serves a very large geographical area along the South and East of the County.
“In the interests of normalised policing, as well as the ongoing security threat, Lisnaskea is a vitally important location for a police base. If it wasn’t there the closest police base would be Enniskillen, based at the island town, almost 30 miles from some locations that the Lisnaskea station serves.
“Not that many years ago County Fermanagh was served by 13 police stations, that is now reduced to 3, with Lisnaskea covering areas like Rosslea, Newtownbutler and Maguiresbridge that had operational police stations at that time.
“Given the recent arrest of suspected dissident republican terrorists, one just across the border, this highlights the importance of keeping a station like Lisnaskea operational to provide vigilance and a deterrent in the area.
“To remove Lisnaskea station at this time would create a criminal paradise and leave local people across this wide area extremely vulnerable.
“I am writing to the Policing Board and local police commanders seeking an urgent meeting on the matter”, the UUP chairman said.
A PSNI spokesperson said: “There are currently no plans to close Lisnaskea Police Station or to move any of the officers currently based at the station. As a publicly funded organisation the PSNI keeps all of its resources under constant review and a rigorous process is in place to manage any change in the police estate. This process includes extensive consultation with both the public and with our political and statutory partners.
“Lisnaskea station remains an operational base and there are no immediate plans for this to change”