48 gardaí assigned to high-visibility policing plan for Cork City

There will be 11 beats across the city which have been selected for patrols between 8am and 4am daily, with 11 gardaí on duty during daytime hours, with 12 on duty during the night.

Community policing gardaí on the beat on St Patrick's Street, Cork City. File Picture: Larry Cummins

Close to 50 extra gardaí have been assigned to Cork city as a new permanent so-called "high-visibility policing plan" targeting antisocial behaviour, drug dealing, shoplifting, and public order gets under way.

Aggressive begging will also come under the remit of the new policing plan, which will see more garda foot patrols across the city centre. 

The new foot patrols come “in locations that were selected following feedback from the community and businesses in the city, as well as our own crime location data”, according to An Garda Síochána.

Under the new plan, repeat offenders will be targeted with a “pro-arrest policy”, while strong opposition to bail will also be made in the courts, “where appropriate”.

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The allocation of 48 gardaí to the Cork City Garda Division brings the number of gardaí in the division to 722, according to a Garda spokeswoman.

The 48 gardaí include 36 probationers. The remaining 12 have been transferred to Cork City from other locations.

Under the high-visibility policing plan for the city centre, there will be 11 beats across the city which have been selected for patrols between 8am and 4am daily.

“Gardaí will be at each of these high-visibility posts/beats at all times during the operating hours to provide continuous reassurance to members of the public and promptly deal with incidents,” said a garda spokeswoman.

There will be 11 gardaí on duty for the operation during daytime hours, with 12 on duty as part of it during the night.

The plan will also be backed up by members of the Cork City Garda Roads Policing Unit, the Garda Public Order Unit, and detective and plain-clothes gardaí.

A similar initiative was launched in Dublin recently, and Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly told the Oireachtas justice committee two weeks ago that the Dublin pilot would be next rolled out to Cork.

The new policing plan for the city centre will continue after the Christmas and new year period.

Welcome from businesses

Businesses in Cork City have welcomed the move, given concern in recent years about a perception among the public that Cork city centre does not feel safe.

Last month, during a breakfast meeting hosted by the Cork Business Association, business representatives met with senior gardaí, homeless services representatives, and members of Cork City Council to discuss challenges, including antisocial behaviour in the city centre.

The Cork Business Association has welcomed the new allocation of gardaí and the rollout of the policing plan.

“Compared with what we are used to getting, it is extraordinary,” said association president, Dave O’Brien.

He said the association has been campaigning for such a measure “for years, and never really getting what we were looking for".

He said that the Garda Commissioner has been pushing it. “For businesses and residents in the city, it is really welcome," he said.

City 'needed additional resources'

There were 1,309 theft-related offences in Cork city centre last year, up from 1,195 in 2023 and from 939 in 2022. There were 852 public order offences in the same area last year, while burglary-related offences rose from 28 in 2022 to 66 last year.

Assistant Commissioner for the Southern region, Eileen Foster, said: “These high-visibility foot patrols in Cork city centre increase garda visibility and offer public reassurance that public realms and amenities in Cork city centre are, and continue to be, safe places to live, visit, socialise, conduct business, and enjoy.” 

Chief Superintendent of the Cork City Division, Thomas Myers, said the measures are “an acknowledgement that Cork City needed additional resources”.

Earlier this month, four wardens began patrolling the city under the city centre warden scheme launched in a pilot project in partnership between Cork City Council, Cork Business Association (CBA), and gardaí.

Although the wardens do not have enforcement powers like gardaí, their remit is to maintain close contact with law enforcement, and to raise any issues directly with relevant services.

The two-year pilot project is funded by the Department of Justice and Cork City Council.