Finnerty warning over garda cuts

South and East Galway will be one of the first places hit if there are further cuts to An Garda Siochána, according to a local councillor.

Councillor Gerry Finnerty warned against cutting garda numbers further and closing garda stations in an effort to cut costs as it would have “a detrimental effect on everything”.

Fianna Fáil is to hold a public meeting in Loughrea next week on the increase in crime in rural areas and the impact of cuts on local garda resources.

The party’s justice spokesperson, Niall Collins, will host the meeting at the Loughrea Spa Hotel next Tuesday. Local Fianna Fáil representatives will also be in attendance.

Speaking ahead of the event, the Limerick deputy said people in rural communities across the West of Ireland are feeling increasingly vulnerable in their homes in the face of further cuts to local garda resources.

“The latest CSO crime figures published last week show that Galway, like all parts of the country, has seen a significant increase in the rate of burglaries and fraud over the past year. Nationally, there has been a 10.3% surge in burglaries in the year to the end of June, as well as a 43% increase in muggings and thefts from a person and the 93% increase in robbery of cash or goods in transit,” explained Deputy Collins.

“I believe this is the very worst time to scale back community garda resources across the West of Ireland. The Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter, has already shut down 39 rural garda stations across the country this year and dozens more were downgraded. Now, in the face of a surge in burglaries, fraud and petty crime nationally, he is in the process of pin-pointing more garda stations for closure or downgrade.

“All of this has left people in rural communities, in particular, feeling more and more vulnerable in their homes. At our meeting in Loughrea, I will speak about what I believe needs to be done to address this problem and ensure that we do everything in our power to protect households and business in Galway and across the country within the constraints of budget,” the Limerick TD stated.

According to Fianna Fáil Councillor Gerry Finnerty, “The biggest problem that is there at the moment is the garda force being depleted. What happens is that if the force is depleted, the first place that would be hit is the rural areas and Galway East is one of the most rural constituencies in the country, spanning from the border with Clare to Roscommon. The talk is about closing garda stations and courthouses and that will have a detrimental effect on everything.”

Councillor Finnerty stated that he believes resources needed to be refocused.

“The big thing when you are looking at crime is whether you are safe in your own home at night. If not, the culprits of that should be in jail. I don’t think having Sean Quinn Jnr in jail will help in that regard. I think we have our priorities wrong. The Government should be tougher on crime, the kind that affects everyday lives of people and there isn’t enough focus on that,” he said.

The South Galway man noted that crime figures in the Gort district are low but said any crime, especially crimes against people, is too much and “an awful ordeal for those involved”.

Councillor Finnerty also called on banks to be more flexible, with customers arguing that the actions of banks is forcing people to keep money in their homes.

“The way the whole banking system is working doesn’t help. At the moment, if you go to put a cheque into a bank, you have to wait days for that to clear. That is forcing people to keep cash in case they need it. A further deterrent to putting it in the bank is bank charges. Definitely, there is an overall lack of flexibility in the banks and it is causing a lot of problems for people. In many cases, we are talking about people operating with just a small amount of money like a couple of hundred euros but there is a whole ordeal that they have to go through in the banks. The banks want you to go cashless but that is difficult, particularly for older people, to grasp,” Councillor Finnerty added.

Fianna Fáil TD Michael Kitt this week proposed a personal alarm scheme for people over the age of 66.

The Galway East deputy was commenting following the brutal murder of Eugene Gillespie in Sligo two weeks ago.

“The savage murder of Eugene Gillespie in Sligo further underlined the need for us to ensure that older people have enhanced security,” Deputy Kitt said.

“Violent crimes against older people have increased in recent years and there is no doubt that many older people here in Galway are feeling more vulnerable than ever in their homes. All of this points to the need for greater protection for householders and particularly older people, who feel most at risk.

“The Justice Minister Alan Shatter is pursuing a policy of closing and downgrading many local garda stations across the West of Ireland.  This, coupled with the surge in burglaries, has left many older people in this area feeling extremely nervous about their personal safety,” Deputy Kitt continued.

The public meeting begins at 8.30pm next Tuesday at the Loughrea Spa Hotel.