FIANNA Fail councillor for Adare-Rathkeale, Richard O’Donoghue, wants to see a “zero tolerance” approach to crime in rural Ireland, similar to that previously taken to clean up the mean streets of New York.
And he is calling on the Government, as a matter of urgency, to give rural areas back their police force and tackle the increase in crime rates before it is too late.
“In New York, in the past, the crime rate was escalating to the point where immediate action was called for – much like the situation in rural Ireland today,” he explained.
“The police force was increased and given instruction to carry out a zero-tolerance approach to crime. They concentrated on all crime, from the petty misdemeanours to the serious offences. Crimes seen as insignificant in the past such as breaking of windows or public order offences were investigated and the offenders prosecuted and brought to trial. By starting at the bottom of the crime pile the New York Police Force succeeded in cutting all crime,” he said.
The local politician insists that the absence of Gardai in rural Garda stations is now at a critically low level and the knock-on effects are being felt, he said, by the residents of areas of County Limerick such as Granagh, Meanus, Ballingarry, Croom, Castletown, Rathkeale and Ferrybridge.
“Stations across the county have been closed while others operate with skeleton-staff. In the Ballingarry area hours have been reduced, the area to be covered has increased and the Gardai responsible have no access to a vehicle. This situation is not fair on the Gardai expected to police the area and it is certainly not fair on the law-abiding citizens of our county. We are playing into the hands of the criminals,” he warned.
Councillor O’Donoghue stressed that he has the highest respect for the Gardai and complimented the force locally as they are working under huge constraints imposed on them by the Government.
“Crime in rural Ireland is on the increase with the criminal becoming more and more confident as the chances of getting caught decline. The decision of the Government to concentrate all our Garda resources in the urban areas is akin to the Pope moving all the priests of Ireland to the cities with the instruction that they travel on Sundays and Holy Days to all the churches in the country to say Mass. This may seem ludicrous but this is what we are doing with our Garda force,” he concluded.
