A COUNTY Limerick publican has again complained that there is no visible Garda presence in the large market town of Newcastle West where he is running his premises.
Gearoid Whelan, proprietor of Whelan’s Bar, has been highlighting “a lack of law and order” in Newcastle West after a number of violent incidents in the town.
On St Stephen’s Day, Mr Whelan claimed on his X (formerly twitter) account that there were “two assaults in maiden street in last four nights, not a [Garda] to be seen on patrol. It’s a joke”.
The publican tagged Limerick Fine Gael Minister of State Patrick O’Donovan, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee, and An Garda Síochána, who did not respond to the tweet.
A Garda spokesman told the Limerick Post that he had made enquiries into the alleged assaults but had been advised “that there are no reports or complaints received at this time”.
A reliable source in the Limerick town claimed two men, including a vulnerable man, had been assaulted on Maiden Street in the run up to Christmas Day and that a local gang of youths were suspected of being behind both incidents.
When contacted for comment, Mr Whelan said he did not want to comment specifically about the two alleged assaults. However, he said there was a lack of a visible Garda presence in the town.
“It basically comes down to having a Garda, we have no presence here whatsoever,” said Mr Whelan.
“They put on a big show for Halloween, it was like Dublin City Centre here on Halloween night. We must have had 30 Gardaí here, because you might remember last year we (Newcastle West) made the headlines, so they were making sure we weren’t making them again this year.”
Videos were shared at the time on social media of groups of youths roaming the town upending cars, throwing wheelie bins, and discharging fireworks at cars, buildings, and people.
Mr Whelan said the visibility of Gardaí in the town dropped significantly again after Halloween night in 2023.
“That’s all it was, it was a show for the night. We don’t even have a proper Garda station. There is a gang of youths going around the town and basically running the show for the past couple of years. It’s the same core of individuals,” he said.
“Newcastle West has an anti-social behaviour problem. At Christmas time I didn’t see any beat on the street at all and I basically worked every night. You’d see the odd patrol car passing but sure they could be just driving through.
“I just think having Gardaí with feet on the ground seven nights a week is not a big thing to ask, it’s a big county town, just walk a few streets, that’s all they have to do.
“If I ring the (Newcastle West) Gardaí after 7pm, I get through to Cork, whatever way the phone system is and I do believe the local Gardaí are not happy with this themselves.
“When I have rang them and been put through to Cork, they ask me ‘where is Newcastle West?’”
In 2015, the Garda Representative Association said Newcastle West Garda Station was infested with rats and “unfit for purpose”. Gardaí continued campaigning for a better station in the town and seven years later, in September 2022, Minister Helen McEntee, accompanied by Minister Patrick O’Donovan, launched plans to demolish the town’s garda station and have it replaced.
Minister McEntee acknowledged the Garda station was “not a place for anybody to work, there’s no point in saying otherwise”.
Last October, a Garda spokesman said Newcastle West Garda Station was “open 24 hours a day, seven days a week”, but would not disclose how many Gardaí were stationed in the town on weekdays and on weekends “as to do so would inform and potentially embolden criminal elements”.
