Harmful assaults on rise in city but fall in rural areas

The number of assaults causing harm has dropped significantly in rural parts of Co Cork, but they are on the rise and “from more aggressive” elements in the city.

In the Cork North Garda Division, there were 18 such assaults between June and August of this year, compared with 26 in the comparable period for 2011, a drop of 31%. Minor assaults were also down by 9%.

In the Cork West Garda Division, they had dropped from 34 to 20 (-41%).

Chief Superintendent Gerard Dillane, who is in charge of policing in North and East Cork, said new rostering arrangements had meant more gardaí were on patrol at peak public order times on Fridays and Saturdays and they were able to intervene quicker to stop disputes turning violent.

However, Chief Supt Michael Finn told a meeting of the Cork County Joint Policing Committee (JPC) yesterday that serious assaults in Cork City, which he controls, had risen by 33% from 46 to 61.

He said there were far higher numbers of revellers coming into the city, and he was concerned by the aggression being witnessed on the streets. “The level of aggression out there is on the increase, which we are concerned about.”

Meanwhile, he admitted that some patrol cars from his division had been swapped with the Cork West Garda Division.

This is because gardaí are trying to stretch their ageing fleet. Patrol cars have to be taken off the road when they reach 300,000km.

Patrol cars in the city do not have a huge area to cover, while those operating in West Cork have far larger distances to cover.

Patrol cars with high mileage in West Cork are being swapped with cars which have lower mileage in the city to increase their life-expectancy.

The JPC also heard that more Garda stations are likely to be closed in the coming years. However, senior gardaí say they have had no indication from the Garda commissioner yet as to how many will go in the next round of cuts, expected to be announced in the December budget.

“I know the minister is talking to the Garda commissioner and he’s sought views from us,” said Chief Supt Finn. “I don’t think 100 stations will be closed, I think it will be less. But I have no doubt there won’t be a garda division in the country which won’t be impacted.”

He said that in an ideal world, Garda management would like to keep all stations open, but that was not feasible in the current economic climate.