Huge crowd at Mullingar Garda Station open day

The first open day in three years at Mullingar Garda Station drew a huge crowd today.

The Community Policing Unit hosted the event and Gda Neill Donnellan, Sgt Brian Stones and Gda Fiona Walsh were involved in organising it.

A number of garda national were present, including the Mounted Unit, Dog Unit, Water Unit, Air Support Unit and also the Garda Band.

Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner today, Gda Donnellan said: “It’s great to have a big turnout here, and in the last two years with Covid, we weren’t able to have the open day.

“The weather, thankfully, has been good for us, and we had the national units and local units, and there’s also two other stations [represented] as well, so there’s a lot for people to see here.”

Gda Donnellan said this is an important year for An Garda Síochána, as this is their centenary.

“It’s a big celebration for us and it’s great to see the support from members of the public, and everyone here has been very complimentary to us.”

Local units present included the Roads and Policing Unit from Moate, Public Order, the Drugs Unit, and Aisling Toner, the victims officer for the Westmeath Division, was also there.

There were tours of the station as well, and aside from purely policing matters, there were attractions for the younger members of the public, such as face painting and an ice cream van.

Retired members of the force and their families were also welcomed to the station, and as Gda Donnellan said, “they’ve had the chance to engage with current members of An Garda Síochána here in Mullingar, they went upstairs to spend time with other retired members, and they were reminiscing on times past”.