Posted online: May 15th, 2009

By Chris Ashmore
Two army barracks in Letterkenny and Lifford are lying empty – but the Department of Defence is now looking to rent premises for use by the Reserve Defence Force.
The Department of Defence recently placed advertisements looking for premises to rent in the Letterkenny area which would include office space, a lecture room, store room, kitchenette, toilet and shower facilities and car parking.
But Fine Gael Councillor Gareth Reid has described the move as “a perfect example of stupidity within the Government at present.”
“This is just typical,” he blasted. “This entire situation regarding the barracks in Lifford and Rockhill has been a joke since day one. We close them up forcing the men and women to travel hours to and from work every day, then we pay a private security company to look after the place and then the same Department look to line some developers pocket by renting property off them.”
“I literally could not believe it when I saw the advert. They are still putting on the heating in Rockhill and Lifford to keep the property in a decent condition and now they’re going out to rent a privately owned building a couple of miles away. What is the sense in that?” Cllr Reid commented.
“When the Department was contacted, it stated, that the matter is being investigated and further correspondence will issue in due course,” he added.