MINISTER SHANE ROSS has hit back at the former minister Alan Shatter over the delays in reopening Stepaside Garda Station.

It’s been a year since Minister for Transport Shane Ross announced that his constituency’s Garda station would reopen – locals have become increasingly concerned about the lack of progress.

On Monday the former Justice Minister told RTÉ Radio One’s Today with Miriam that there was a “bombast and fakery” around Ross’ handling of the issue.

“Hiding away in a building in a car park behind a derelict and defunct Garda building that’s unfit for purpose will provide no means of preventing criminality in the area. The focus on this has been opportunistic politics.”

The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport told the same show today:

I sometimes think that he’s got a picture of me in his study and he’s throwing darts all the time because that’s the kind of politics that is.

A Department of Justice report commissioned by Ross found that six Garda stations should be reopened. Stepaside was one of the six selected, although some viewed this as a political move as Ross had promised to reopen the Garda station during a general election.

He said that it was ironic that “the minister who had closed the station” was now complaining that not enough was being spent on it upon its reopening.

“It’s not going to be a caravan, it’s not going to be what [Shatter] called a four car park spaces module. it’s going to be a 24/7 Garda station.”

He said that reports of just 4 parking spaces was “nonsense”.

When asked whether he’d debate the issue with Alan Shatter live on air, Ross said he didn’t know whether he wanted to “indulge Alan Shatter”.

Ross was also asked about whether he thought Shatter would run against him in the next general election, to which he replied “I don’t think you can base a campaign on ‘I don’t like Shane Ross’”.

He said that Shatter didn’t have much to say, “except being rather bitter about everything that I’ve introduced” adding he didn’t think he’d run.