Nothing is being done to halt ‘creeping rural terror’
If there is a determined attempt to close schools, post offices, garda stations and other facilities, then the rural population will decline more rapidly as people move to built-up areas.
The closure threats to rural garda stations must alarm everyone in rural Ireland.
Law and order in rural areas has now declined to the extent that robberies and attacks are so commonplace they do not even make the newspapers.
The prime targets of this creeping rural terror have been the old, lonely and isolated.
I challenge any sociologist to do a survey of crime rates in Ireland and I am quite certain the murder rate per 1,000 people will be higher in rural than in urban areas.
This was a country where women and children, the old, the weak and vulnerable went wherever they wished by day and night. Now they are afraid to venture out at any time or even to remain in their home alone.
Why has this happened? We can find many explanations – among them the collapse of family authority and the fact that some parents don’t bother to find out what their youngsters are up to and feel no shame or regret when they turn to violent crime.
Politicians and sociologists will long argue over the causes of crime and violence, but our urgent concern is how to curb it now and how to protect our old folk.
Gardaí often come in for criticism – a lot of it unjustified – over soaring crime rates, particularly public order offences. They are in the front line of alcohol and drug-fuelled thuggery every night of the week and as they struggle to contain street fights, drug use and reckless motorists, they are criticised for not doing enough to tackle “serious crime”.
While this nightmare has been developing, what have the Government and the garda commissioner been doing?
* Closing rural garda stations.
* Not reappointing a sergeant here, not replacing a garda there.
* Cutting travel allowance for crime prevention and juvenile liaison officers, resulting in voluntary retirement due to the impact of the Governments draconian spending cuts.
* Ban on recruitment and promotions.
We just cannot allow this situation to continue.
The rural garda is more than just a physical deterrent against crime – he or she can represent the eyes and ears of a community that might otherwise be too scattered to defend itself.
The situation will get worse unless people organise a campaign to push this issue to the top of the political agenda.
Cllr Noel Collins
‘St Jude’s’
Midleton
Co Cork
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
