The Policing Board has confirmed the disposal of the former Crossmaglen police station, along with six other PSNI properties. The combined annual running and upkeep costs of the seven locations reached £1.24 million, prompting the decision to release the sites.

The Crossmaglen base was for decades one of the most heavily fortified security compounds in Northern Ireland. A prominent sangar overlooking the main square became an enduring symbol of the Troubles, repeatedly targeted by republican attack, including improvised flame-throwing devices in the early 1990s. It was eventually dismantled in 2000 as political negotiations progressed and security measures were scaled back.

Because of the high risk to ground patrols, the RUC and British Army shifted to helicopter travel for the base from the 1970s. IRA units carried out multiple gun attacks on military helicopters in the area.

After military use ended, the site continued as a PSNI station. It returned to public debate in 2019 when then Chief Constable Simon Byrne posted an image on social media showing himself with heavily armed officers at the location. Local criticism led to a comprehensive review of south Armagh policing, which recommended closing the station. Byrne said the site was an emblem of the past with no place in modern policing.

Sinn Féin MLA Aoife Finnegan welcomed the disposal. She said the site had stood as a symbol of conflict and division, and its removal marked another step away from that past. She stressed that any future development must deliver lasting social and economic benefits, including jobs, community facilities, and housing, and that local voices must be central to decisions about its future.