Lack of Gardaí responsible for major increase in rural crimes

A JUMP of 17% in daylight burglaries in rural areas is being blamed on a lack of garda manpower.

Garda management wants an extra 11 gardaí placed in the two districts of Fermoy and Mallow, in the Cork North Garda Division.

A request for six in Fermoy and a further five in Mallow has so far been turned down by garda headquarters in Dublin.

The Garda Representative Association (GRA) says that a lack of manpower in the larger urban centres has led to gardaí being stripped from rural areas.

Criminals, especially those based in Cork and Limerick cities, have targeted rural areas in the belief they represent ‘easy pickings’.

Small stations in the Fermoy area, which include Ballynoe, Conna, Ballyduff, Rathcormac, Kildorrery and Castletownroche are reduced to almost one-man operations.

These personnel are regularly drafted in to supplement units in Fermoy. Opening hours for the public at these rural stations are being reduced under the pressure and can change frequently depending on whether personnel are committed elsewhere.

“They try to open stations as often as they can, but it’s getting more and more difficult,” one source said.

Mitchelstown, the second largest town in the Fermoy garda district, has had its public opening hours cut to 10am to 6pm.

GRA national executive member Harry Morrison said that two very experienced gardaí in Mitchelstown have just recovered from serious illness and are on ‘light duties’. He added that the town suffers from sporadic public order problems.

“Gardaí can be absent from duty for a number of reasons. They can be at courts, on refresher courses, annual leave or out through illness or injury,” he said.

As both Fermoy and Mitchelstown are on the main Cork-Dublin road, gardaí stationed there deal with a large number of serious accidents every year. They also face problems with gridlock, almost a daily occurrence at rush-hour.

Fermoy, apart from being a district headquarters, is also Divisional headquarters for policing in most of North and East Cork.

Considering this, its gardaí have woefully inadequate premises to operate from. Situated in a former bank built in Victorian times, there is no proper parking for gardaí.

While Fermoy has cells, it has no alcoholizer, meaning motorists arrested on suspicion of drink-driving have to be taken 17 miles to Mallow to be tested with the high-tech equipment. The same goes for those arrested in Mitchelstown.

By the time prisoners are processed it usually means two gardaí are away from the area for up to two hours. If a foreign national is arrested an interpreter has to be found and the process can then take over three hours.

The situation in the Mallow Garda District is not quite as acute as Fermoy, but, nevertheless management believes an additional five gardaí are required there. This district also covers Doneraile, Buttevant and Charleville.

Numbers in Mallow are occasionally bolstered at the weekends by bringing in gardaí from rural stations. This is done to prevent public order problems on Friday and Saturday nights in Mallow.

While sources say Mallow is not yet in crisis they say its designation under the National Spatial Strategy as a ‘hub town’ means that extra gardaí will be needed as the population rises.

The GRA says that increasing populations in Mallow and other areas are not being addressed and needs to be done urgently.