by Alan Jacques
INDEPENDENT councillor Emmett O’Brien has called for a Garda to be assigned to Ballingarry Garda Station in County Limerick.
The people of Ballingarry and surrounds, he said, had for the last number of years been blessed with the presence of a very approachable and active Garda who has recently retired.
According to the Adare-Rathkeale representative, the reduction in Garda numbers in County Limerick clearly highlights the lack of foresight being shown by the Fine Gael and Labour government through their persistence in not properly funding and recruiting to An Garda Síochána.
“We, in rural Limerick, have now been left an overstretched Garda force to serve our communities,” O’Brien commented.
“Over the last number of months there has been a spate of break-ins, into cars and vans in particular, and fuel thefts from businesses, farms, houses, quarries and national schools. It is now increasingly clear that the Fine Gael led government’s policy not to recruit to the Gardaí over the last four years has direct daily consequences for the people of Limerick.”
As a member of the Joint Policing Committee, Cllr O’Brien has repeatedly called on the government to properly recruit to the Gardai while highlighting the heroic work the Gardai in County Limerick are doing against “continuing levels of danger”.
“I have spoken with numerous people in Ballingarry and they have advised me that they will not tolerate not having a Garda assigned to their area.
“It is essential that a Garda is assigned to Ballingarry to allow continuity in the area and to ensure that the people of Ballingarry and surrounds do not feel abandoned by this government,” he concluded.
