A GARDA superintendent has come out in favour of setting up a Garda sub office in Westbury.
Superintendent Frank O’Brien of Henry Street Station, said he would not be against locating an office for a specific period of time in the Corbally housing estate. The superintendent, who was speaking at a Joint Policing Committee meeting in Clonlara Community Centre, has jurisdiction for policy matters in South-’East Clare.
Noting that as a rural station, Ardnacrusha Garda Station has limited opening hours, he said that during any eight hour shift the gardai has just one quarter of its overall complement on duty, which also has to cope with deploying resources for court work for a number of days.
“We have to prioritise our resources and sometimes a garda patrol car does not come to an area in an hour or two because frequently gardai are attending a more serious incident, such as a robbery, serious assault or even murder. Incidents are prioritised in terms of how serious they are”.
Responding to Cllr Pascal Fitzgerald’s complaints about late night drinking by young people along the river banks close to Shannon Banks and his request that a garda sub office be located in the area, Supt O’Brien said:
“People drinking in a public place is a serious concern and I would be willing to arrange a meeting with councillors to see how we can progress these issues”.
The late night drinking in their area is a source of genuine concern to the residents, Cllr Fitzgerald said.
“They are being woken up by youths who aren’t supposed to be drinking in public places. Some of the residents telephoned Ardnacrusha garda and there was no one in the station, and while we know that the garda in Ardnacrusha are doing their best, the fact is that they don’t have the required manpower.
“It took two hours before a patrol car came out to the scene. I have called for a community garda to be stationed in a sub-office in the Westbury area because it’s not good enough that when Ardnacrusha gardaí are called to an incident in Limerick city, we are left without cover.
“I have got phone calls from residents at 11pm looking for me to do something but I’m a councillor not a garda. I have though, tabled a motion in Clare County Council calling for the banning of drinking in public places,” he added.
Senior executive officer, Michael McNamara, pointed out that the bylaws banned drinking in towns but didn’t cover locations in South-East Clare.
Two years ago, the issue of having a garda sub office opened locally led Tony Hayes, who runs Westbury Stores, to lodge a planning application seeking permission to demolish an existing garage and barber shop in order to construct three commercial units, one of which would be a sub-office for a community garda.
Mr Hayes had hoped the permanent presence of a community based garda within easy access of residents living in Westbury, Shannon Banks and Carrig Meade would be hugely beneficial for the local community.
However, he had to withdraw the application after Clare County Council stated his plans represented “significant overdevelopment” of the site.
Following Supt O’Brien’s recent comments, however, Cllr Fitzgerald is hopeful for a positive outcome in relation to a garda sub office being opened in Westbury in the not too distant future.
