Frances Fitzgerald ‘in denial’ over rural crime

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has been accused of “being in a state of denial” about the impact the closure of rural Garda stations has had on crime.

In an interview in yesterday’s Irish ExaminerMs Fitzgerald ruled out reopening Garda stations which have closed in recent years and said the focus would now be on “smart policing”.

She said there are large parts of the country where crime rates are lower and therefore don’t need the same concentration of Garda stations as other areas.

However, Fianna Fáil’s Dara Calleary claimed she is ignoring the impact that the closure of 139 stations since 2011 is having on crime rates in rural Ireland.

“It is increasingly clear that this Government is actually beginning to believe its own spin. The scale of this disconnection with reality is clear this morning in an Irish Examiner interview with Minister Frances Fitzgerald, where she seeks to play down the issue of rural crime,” said Mr Calleary.

Ms Fitzgerald said that gardaí are making better use of technology and instead of having a station, a single garda can be made responsible for a particular area.

She said: “What you have to do is give the gardaí the technology. People say you need the Garda station in order to have local knowledge.

“What we are doing is around the country, you may not have a station but you will have a garda responsible for that area, going out working with community alert.”

But Mr Calleary said the minister was “denying the impact of Garda station closures on soaring crime rates and community decline, she reverts to Alan Shatter’s discredited promises of ‘smart policing’,”.

“The fact is that since 139 Garda stations were closed by Fine Gael, burglaries and other crimes have soared. People are living in fear in their homes and despair when they hear the minister for justice play down the problem and talk about smart policing,” said Mr Calleary.

“They have heard it all before from this Government, but they know the reality that they are living.

He added: “Dismantling the community Garda infrastructure in this country was a short-sighted and dangerous decision. It saved virtually no money and removed the gardaí from communities across the country. The sooner Fine Gael accepts this mistake, the sooner we can have a proper discussion about how to try and fix it.”

It comes as it was it was revealed that seven out of 10 of the most serious crimes against property, such as robberies, burglaries and theft, are going unsolved

Figures obtained by the Irish Examiner show non-detection rates in some Garda districts of more than 80%.