Locals engage with Waterford Gardaí at successful station open day
Ben Wickham, at the Waterford Garda Open Day. Photo: Joe Evans
Members of the public were given the opportunity to see the inside of Waterford Garda Station over the June bank holiday weekend, as An Garda Siochana hosted a free open day.
Guests toured the Garda station and spoke with members of specialist Garda units, emergency services and local voluntary organizations, gaining insight into their daily operations.
Speaking from the event was Paul Malone, Advanced Paramedic Supervisor with Waterford Ambulance Station, who said: “The youngsters here have big excitement seeing the ambulance and all the other emergency vehicles on display, and it’s great for them to interact with what all the different emergency services do in Waterford.
“It gives the kids an insight into the different services and the gardaí have a brilliant display here today with all the different equipment on show. The fire services is always a big thing that the kids love, and we have a constant queue of people here all afternoon to see the ambulance, so it’s great that they’re interacting.”
Seventeen-year-old Ben Wickham, one of the attendees at the open day, shared his keen interest in the Gardaí and emergency services with the Waterford News & Star.
He said, “I love the outfits mainly and the cars, that’s what got me into it and there’s a few cops that live around me and they’re very nice to everybody.
“Without a doubt I’d love to get into the gardaí when I’m older. For the past eight years I’ve been obsessed with it. I’d love to be able to help people. You’d have to deal with some bad people too of course, but mostly being able to help people is something I’d love to do.”
