‘Service cannot be run on a profit and loss basis’

JUST two garda cars are patrolling most of the Ring of Kerry at night and not enough gardaí are available in tourist towns to tackle serious closing-time disturbances.

These are just some of the everyday problems which the Garda Representative Association (GRA) claims are being encountered by its members in the county.

Kerry’s GRA national executive, Garda Dave McMahon, said there were just over 260 gardaí of all ranks in the county.

Take away senior members, station orderlies, those on sick leave, courses and those who retired and were not replaced, and the number actually out and about on duty on each eight-hour shift is down to a mere handful.

Gda McMahon believes at least 80 gardaí are needed in Kerry.

This is how he bases his assessment: manpower on the units is so low in the district headquarters in Tralee, Killarney, Caherciveen and Listowel that a total of 48 personnel are needed to bolster them on a 24-hour basis.

In the areas known to attract tourists, including Ballybunion, Castleisland, Dingle, Killorglin and Kenmare, a further 20 officers are needed.

“A further 12 gardaí are needed in the expanding satellite areas just to keep pace,” Gda McMahon said.

“These areas are Beaufort, Farranfore, Castlemaine, Glenbeigh and Kilgarvan.”

The GRA say that no station should be denuded of personnel, but the organisation cannot understand why, for example, Caherciveen, which is not as busy as Killorglin, has more manpower, even though some may argue that it is a support.

There are just two sergeants and eight gardaí in Killorglin.

A vacancy in Kenmare still hasn’t been filled since last February.

Gda McMahon also claimed that just two cars from Caherciveen’s district headquarters are responsible for patrolling the majority of the Ring of Kerry during the hours of darkness.

“Very senior management’s hands (in Dublin) are tied by budgetary constraints,” he said.

“The police service cannot be run on a profit and loss basis.”

Even if gardaí were offered overtime, most are so exhausted and hassled that they would rather go home to their spouses and families rather than earn the extra few bob, he added.