Pensioners join volunteers to help battle rural crime

These volunteers — many of whom will be pensioners themselves — will work closely with the gardaí who do not have the resources to visit and advise elderly people who may be living alone.

The Department of Justice is set to sign off on funding for the project — which is as part of Community Alert Programme — and this would see volunteers visit the homes of vulnerable, isolated and elderly people in the community.

Niall Garvey CEO of Munitir na Tíre which will run the government funded scheme said a pilot of crime prevention ambassadors in Monaghan, Cavan and Meath has proven extremely successful.

“The gardaí do not have the resources to get out to all the elderly and vulnerable people in their area.

“We got volunteers who were pensioners themselves and who have the time and ability to get out. We thought it was important that they were people who the elderly would feel comfortable with.

“We sent them out to visit people in their area and just chat to them, tell them that they need to know when someone calls to the door, how to keep safely all those sorts of things.”

The volunteers, who were garda trained, then gave information on vulnerable and elderly people to the local gardaí. When rolled out nationally, ambassadors will also be provided with literature to hand out to those they visit, on bogus callers, storing cash and valuables and other issues.

He said the most important aspects of the scheme are education and prevention.

He said that there was massive interest in the pilot project, and after advertising for volunteers in the three areas, they had to turn people away.

“When you ask people to do something worthwhile in their own community then they are willing.

“We would like to roll that project out nationally and the gardaí are eager to do the same.” He said the project is a cheap and effective way of crime prevention and would cost less than €5 per person visited by an ambassador.

“There is demand from nearly every county to do it so we want to roll it out nationwide.

“If you are elderly and living on your own and if all you are reading every day are stories of someone being broken into and beaten up it’s not easy for you to put that out of your mind and think that it is going to be me tonight.

“When you are elderly and living along there is a pressure on you to move out of your home.

“This is a low cost way to keep people reassured and keep them in their homes,” he said. We are talking to the Department of Justice about it and they are interested in it.”

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald announced a doubling in grants for crime prevention measures to support Community Alert and Crimestoppers with a total allocation of €397,000 in Budget 2016.

A department spokesman said they are now awaiting a final proposal on the roll-out of crime prevention ambassadors and expect to then sign off on the plan.

“The department has contacted the CEO of Muintir na Tíre in relation to the increased funding for the Community Alert Programme in 2016 which was announced on budget day.”