A LIMERICK senator has challenged the Minster of Justice over the decision to shut down all of Limerick’s community policing units.
Sinn Féin Senator Paul Gavan questioned Minister of Justice Helen McEntee over the alleged decision to disband the community policing units of an Garda Síochána.
According to Senator Gavan, Garda management in Limerick have informed members attached to Community Policing that their units are being disbanded from November of this year.
Speaking in the Seanad, Senator Gavan said: “When one speaks to families in areas where anti-social behaviour can occur, they always ask first for a community police presence. The reassuring sight of a community guard who is in touch with local communities and knows first-hand the challenges on the ground.”
“Yet, where I live in Limerick, An Garda Síochána has informed us that it will have to cancel its entire community policing programme. There will be no community policing programme from November onwards in Limerick,” the Limerick Senator said.
“That is the responsibility of the Minister. Respectfully, I suggest it is her failure and something she urgently needs to address.”
Senator Gavan lamented that Garda Frank Thornton of the Garda Representative Association has described current Garda resources as “threadbare”, with Gardaí “experiencing major difficulty in trying to deliver a policing service, feeling exhausted, and worn out”.
“They are his words, not mine,” Senator Gavan said.
The Justice Minister made no response to Senator Gavan’s comments, which the Limerick representative said was disappointing.
“I don’t know whether the Minister wasn’t aware of what was happening with community policing in Limerick or whether she just didn’t bother to address the issue,” he said.
“She was taking notes whilst I was speaking but gave no response to the concerns expressed. It’s just another example of a Minister being completely out of touch with the real concerns of people in our communities and the depth of the crisis in Garda resources,” Senator Gavan concluded.
