Policing policy is an invitation to criminals

ONE would have thought the Government had learned its lesson the last time, but now again there is a proposal to have some garda stations in villages and towns closed for a number of hours each day.

Youghal in Co Cork is a good example. It is proposed to close the station there between 10pm and 6am each day. Sadly, similar situations obtain in other areas of east Cork and throughout the country. This is an open invitation to criminals.

There may be a need for streamlining, but to suggest that huge parts of country areas can be served from locations miles away is ludicrous. Rural policing needs to be stepped up, not eased down.

Having a garda presence in an area, urban or rural, is the greatest deterrent to criminals. There is a trend of targeting the most vulnerable and all too frequently this means old people living alone in isolated areas.

Dublin gangs are now regularly hitting smaller towns and villages, such is the success of the garda effort to combat their activities in their natural habitat. But exporting the crime problem out of the capital is not the answer.

The fact remains that nothing can beat the presence of gardaí on the ground. Instead of removing that presence, the Government should be trying to increase it with more patrol cars. I appeal to the Minister for Justice not to close Youghal station by night. Youghal is a fishing port and also a tourist resort: it is vitally important that it remains open 24 hours a day, every day.

Cllr Noel Collins,

Midleton,

Co Cork.