Templemore Garda Training College here in Templemore, Co Tipperary, was once among the most elite of police academies within in Europe. Its future seemed excellent with the purchase of a further 220 acre site at Clonmore, situated close to Templemore, for the inflated price of €5.5 million, but that was five years ago.
Latter had been purchased for use as a Firearms and Tactical TrainingFacility, but was shelved following major required spending cuts under the last Fianna Fáil government.
Now Fine Gael Deputy Noel Coonan states he is confidently again advancing plans for a Garda Siochana tactical training unit in Clonmore, Templemore, with foundations for a Skills Building expected to be completed during this Summer.
The Minister of State, with special responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW), Brian Hayes recently visited the Garda College in Templemore together with Deputy Coonan, where they discussed the facility’s future with Superintendent Pat McCabe and Inspector Ray Mulderrig.
The Minister of State, also inspected the tactical training site in Dromard, Clonmore, close to Templemore Town. Any future development of the project will involves participation between An Garda Siochana and OPW officials, and the progressing of any further works at Dromard is subject to the priority attached to it, by An Garda Síochána within the overall Garda accommodation programme.
Deputy Coonan said the skills building would allow for in-house tactical manoeuvre training. Discussions are ongoing and the OPW expect to have this new Garda training centre ‘shovel ready,’ once State funding becomes available.
The centre, when completed, will train members in the use of firearms and train specialist units in tactical manoeuvres for armed incidents.
The planning consultation phase under Part 9 of the Planning Regulations was completed recently and tender documents are expected to issue shortly.
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