Senior garda rejects suggestions people are afraid to visit Cork

Top garda confirms city has 15 fewer gardaí than it did three years ago but rejects claims people are afraid to socialise in city centre despite a number of recent, violent brawls

Chief Supt Tom Myers confirmed that Cork city has 15 fewer gardaí than it did three years ago.

The senior garda in charge of policing in Cork city has rejected suggestions that people are afraid to visit or socialise in the city centre despite a number of recent, violent brawls.

But Chief Supt Tom Myers confirmed that the city has 15 fewer gardaí than it did three years ago.

He was responding to questions at a meeting of the Cork City Joint Policing Committee (JPC) on Monday.

At the meeting, several public representatives said there is a perception that the city centre just isn’t safe anymore.

Their comments came after two recent violent brawls on city centre streets were captured on camera phones, and the footage was shared widely.

Sinn Féin Cllr Mick Nugent suggested opening a garda station in a vacant coffee pod in the city centre.

“I think the perception is out there, rightly or wrongly, but a lot of people would say rightly, in terms of issues with the city centre - people are looking for that to be addressed by the city council and gardaí,” he said.

Fine Gael Senator Jerry Buttimer backed the suggestion and said whether people like it or not, there is a perception that the city centre isn’t safe.

But Chief Supt Myers rejected that suggestion.

“I don’t see what people are afraid of,” he said.

“From my point of view, I see it in the analysis of incidents that are reported to us.

Obviously there are incidents that are not reported but I think the city is in a good place at the moment.

“You can walk around and see people eating out, socialising and we are tackling a lot of the tidying up of the city - (dealing with) beggars and antisocial behaviour at locations."

He also said the night-time economy "seems to be working quite well".

“We have gardaí at strategic locations, like Washington Street, Grand Parade and close to nightclubs and it seems to be working quite well, the chief superintendent said.

The amount of offences that are being detected is low.

“I would encourage everybody attending the JPC to put a message out that the city is safe and to encourage people to come in and to enjoy the city.” 

He also presented figures which show that garda manpower in Cork is down 15 since 2019 despite an allocation of 15 new recruits from the most recent graduate cohort from Templemore.

The overall 'all-ranks figure' dropped from 730 in 2019 to 723 in 2020, increased to 730 in 2021, but dropped back to 724 in 2022.

At the moment, there are 591 members at the rank of garda in Cork, down 15 from a 2019 high of 606.

Lord Mayor Colm Kelleher said the recent allocation of new recruits was welcome but it ensured that the city is "just standing still" in terms of garda numbers.

He said he will write to Garda Commissioner Drew Harris urging him to allocate more gardaí to the city. 

Cork Chamber and the Cork Business Association have made similar representations recently.