Gardai at a Border station in Donegal have walked out in protest at the conditions they work in amid fears for their health.
A sergeant and two gardai are refusing to work in the station at Muff, which has been described as among the worst in the country and was condemned as unfit for habitation in the 1970s.
The station, built in the early 1900s, is damp and has a major dry rot problem. The three gardai have transferred to the district headquarters at Buncrana.
In November last the gardai threatened to walk out but after last-minute negotiations which promised urgent attention to the problems they lifted the threat. However, the necessary repair work was not carried out, resulting in this week's action.
Further negotiations between the gardai and the Office of Public Works (OPW) this week failed to resolve the matter despite promises of temporary accommodation being provided.
The OPW had offered to locate a mobile premises near the station but the gardai still walked out. It is understood, however, they will return to Muff if the temporary premises is put in place.
Facilities at the station were stretched further in recent months with gardai on Border foot-and-mouth checkpoints also using them.
Donegal Garda Representative Association spokesman Mr Michael O'Boyce said last night that the officers were confined to one room downstairs and a single toilet upstairs. He hoped the situation would be rectified in the short term.
"The condition of the premises is just not acceptable, with a combination of dampness and dry rot. The officers were confined to the public office downstairs and a single toilet upstairs. The rest of the premises is unusable. We believed progress would be made following November's walkout threat but nothing happened.
"The Office of Public Works is now in discussion with a local landlord with a view to renting or buying a suitable premises but in the meantime a prefab is to be located in the station grounds within a week," he said.
Mr O'Boyce assured residents that the same level of cover was being provided by the gardai although they were operating from Buncrana.
Meanwhile, in Killybegs, gardai are threatening to join their Muff colleagues because of sub-standard conditions. Local parish priest Father Lorcan Sharkey has agreed to accommodate them temporarily in the parochial house until repairs are carried out but his offer has yet to be taken up. "The Garda station in Killybegs is like something from the Dark Ages," he said.