A LIMERICK councillor, who claims people are afraid to go into the city centre, has called for a special meeting of the Metropolitan District to address antisocial behaviour.
And Fianna Fáil’s Cllr Catherine Slattery has also requested that Senior Gardaí be in attendance at the meeting with council members and officials next Thursday.
“Limerick unfortunately is now at a high level of antisocial behaviour regarding scrambler bikes that have taken over our city and housing estates. Teenagers are getting attacked by other teenagers and it is being filmed and put on social media,” Cllr Slattery told the Limerick Post.
“People are frightened to go into the city centre during the day, not to mind at night, and this has to stop.”
The City East representative went onto take issue with €10 million for overtime for Gardaí and armed response units to tackle antisocial behaviour and crime in the Capital, while Limerick is forgotten.
The plan, assigned by Minister Helen McEntee in the wake of high-profile assaults in the city, is designed to ‘bolster high-visibility policing’. There will also be increased presence of uniformed Gardaí, garda air support unit, the mounted unit, the dog unit, road policing units and armed response units.
“Gardai announced there will be high-visibility patrols in and around the transport network while Operation Citizen, which tackles street-level drug dealing along with antisocial behaviour and the seizure of alcohol in the city, will be ‘enhanced’. Minister McEntee said the additional funding will help Gardaí ‘build stronger, safer communities’ and ‘ensure that the city is a safe place for all to live, work and visit”.
“What about Limerick and the rest of the country? Why are we left to fend for ourselves?” she asked.
Cllr Slattery believes a a stronger round the clock Garda presence is now needed in Limerick City.
“Traders are losing business as people do not want to go into the city with the scramblers and they do not want to sit on outside seating with drugs being taken on front of them. That is why I am asking for this special meeting to address what is going on in our city before someone is killed off one of those scrambler bikes or an innocent person is hit by one of them. Limerick is a beautiful city and we need and want our city back.”
Cllr Slattery’s call for a special meeting has been supported by Fianna Fáil councillors Kieran O’Hanlon and Joe Pond as well as Independent councillor Frankie Daly.
According to the Council, Cathaoirleach of the Metropolitan District Azad Talukder has agreed to the request for the special meeting on this issue with An Garda Siochána. The meeting will place at 12 noon on Thursday September 7 at the Dooradoyle council chamber.
