Limerick welcomes new pillars of the community

A UNIQUE community- based scheme to tackle issues such as anti-social behaviour was launched in Limerick yesterday.

Nine community co-ordinators will work in city neighbourhoods over the next two years to deal with problems as they arise.

The Department of the Environment has allocated €1 million to fund the pilot scheme. The project will be managed by the Limerick City Community Safety Partnership, whose directors are Limerick City Manger Tom Mackey, garda chief superintendent Willie Keane and HSE Mid-West manager John Hennessy.

Several of the community co-ordinators have taken salary drops to take up the €32,000-a-year positions.

Daniel Butler, who holds a BA and left his job as manager of a fashion store in the city, said: “I am proud to come from Limerick and I saw this as an opportunity to do something positive for the city. This is a career move which is certainly not for profit.”

The co-ordinators’ team leader, Annmarie Hogan, has a BA in business and marketing, and left her job as human resource manager to take up the position

Ms Hogan, aged 25 from the Ennis Road, said: “I wanted a career change to help make a difference to the community and this seemed very exciting. This is a new initiative in this country and I hope it will be successful.

“We go out into the community after another week of training. We will be linking up with various community development organisations. We have been trained to deal with certain situations and I have no fear for my personal safety.”

Jenny Stone, aged 25, from Kilkenny, said: “We will have to deal with issues such as anti-social behaviour and I don’t feel our safety will be at risk. There will be certain situations where we will have to stand back, and if there is a danger, to assess the risk. We will have two-way radios and will be able to link up with community gardaí.”

Speaking at yesterday’s launch, Chief Supt Keane urged communities to get to know the co-ordinators.

“The co-ordinators will not have any [law] enforcement powers. Enforcement will be left to us,” he said.

“They will form a linkage and be facilitators in communities. The co-ordinators will get to know issues and problems and bring them back to the city council, the HSE and ourselves. Hopefully, people will take time out to talk and get to know the co-ordinators so that this interpersonal interaction will make communities better, safer and more confident places to live in.”

He said the co-ordinators will be able to cut through bureaucracy to tackle a wide range of issues.

Mayor of Limerick Joe Leddin said the scheme will create a new level of interaction between those working in the community and the public. He said the co-ordinators will be able to help elderly people with information about their entitlements and young people through advising them on educational entitlements.