A Castleblayney man has been convicted and sentenced to prison for the 2019 attack on the garda station in Emyvale. The judge in the sentence hearing of Seamus Treanor told the defendant the fire he deliberately started on the station causing "serious" damage was not only an attack on Gardaí but also on the local community. Treanor was sentenced to nine years in prison, with the final two years suspended.
At around 5am overnight on Sunday 27th into Monday, 28th October 2019, the alarm was raised that the garda station at Derrygasson, Emyvale had been attacked. Emyvale station in Co Monaghan was extensively damaged in the suspected arson attack although there was nobody inside at the time. Serious fire damage was caused to the main garda station, an outhouse to the side and the contents within.
Two days later, following searches in properties in Monaghan and Donegal, Treanor was arrested and held in Letterkenny garda station for questioning by the Monaghan investigation team. Although not open full time, one garda sergeant and four gardaí were stationed at the Emyvale station.
The local depot has still not re-opened following the fire 3 years ago but, a senior member of the Monaghan Garda Division told a recent meeting of the Joint Policing Committee that work to restore the station is ongoing and it is expected to be opened soon. For the crime of committing arson on Emyvale garda station, 37-year-old Seamus Treanor from Castleblayney was convicted at Monaghan Circuit Criminal Court on 13th October and sentenced to nine years in prison, with the final two years suspended.
During the two-year suspended sentence period, Treanor was also bound to abstain from drugs and alcohol, engage with local mental health services and enter into a drugs rehabilitation programme.
