Spectre of crime haunts isolated areas

THE Padraig Nally case encapsulated all the fears that pervade those who live in isolated outposts of rural Ireland.

On October 14, 2004, Nally shot dead John Ward, who, along with his son, had called to the Co Mayo farmer’s property.

Nally had lived in fear since a burglary some months previously. He was so afraid he kept an ancient shotgun by his bed. Other nights he whiled away the fear by relocating to a shed, where he awaited burglars.

He was charged with murder, and initially convicted of manslaughter. Rural Ireland was fully behind Nally, despite evidence that suggested Ward was shot in the back as he was crawling away from Nally’s farm, having been beaten off by the farmer.

Nally was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to six years in prison. The Court of Criminal Appeal ordered a retrial, in which Nally was found not guilty and was set free.

There have been sporadic attacks that have made national headlines in which elderly people living in isolated areas were subjected to assaults, and in a few cases violent death, over the past decade.

The spectre of attack by robbers is the crime which most haunts isolated areas. The age profile in rural Ireland — which has up to 22% of over-65s as opposed to 11% nationally — heightens these fears.

“Generally crime is low in rural Ireland and there are areas that are practically crime free,” according to Paul O’Mahony, a criminologist lecturing in Trinity College.

“There are bête noirs like these gangs from Dublin which make forays up to 100 miles into the countryside and others like that, but generally it’s not too bad.”

There are, however, factors which do play into fears expressed and felt in isolated areas. The Garda presence in rural Ireland has been greatly reduced over the last decade as priorities shifted elsewhere. In a 2007 report, the Garda Inspectorate found that “in many instances small rural stations were serviced by one officer answering to a district headquarters, but mostly operating alone, without ready access to supervisors, an official car or Garda IT”. Last month, it was reported that another 200 stations were under threat of closure.

While statistically burglary is not going through a major rise, there have been an increased level of reports of thefts of metals. The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) reported car batteries, farm machinery and scrap metal have been taken from a number of farms in outlying areas.

“There is an increase in that type of crime,” says Liam Kelly, national co-ordinator of the Community Alert Scheme.

The IFA has called on Environment Minister Phil Hogan to introduce a metal compliance scheme to combat the increased level of thefts.

Despite reduced Garda presence, rural Ireland is blessed with the Community Alert Scheme, which operates 1,405 schemes. It is run in partnership between Muintir na Tíre and the gardaí. Its primary function is to keep in contact with local people living in isolated areas and instil a culture of vigilance in the community. As with any voluntary organisation, the quality can vary depending on the commitment of volunteers in a particular area.

It was initiated in East Cork in 1985 by John Murray, in response to a series of burglaries.

“There are a few small pockets around the country not covered by us, but otherwise it’s everywhere,” says Kelly. “I have no doubt at all that it has saved an awful lot of lives.”

A principal objective of every group is to ensure anybody who requires a pendant alarm is supplied with one. While security is the motivation, the alarms also provide tackle a bigger scourge of isolation. According to Gemma McDonald of Task Community Care, which runs the alarm system, about 86% of calls are from people just wanting to hear a human voice.

“They are what we call reassurance calls,” she says. “People just want to have a chat, just pressing the button and going on to talk about the weather or whatever.”