Garda chief disputes burglary ‘spate’ claim

Clare TD Michael McNamara has called for an increased garda presence and extra patrols in East Clare following what he has termed “a spate of burglaries” in the area.

The Labour deputy has told Chief Superintendent John Kerin that serious community concern was expressed at a meeting in Broadford  recently and representatives of local groups had requested increased garda activity to assist in providing a greater deterrent to crime.
The chief superintendent however, has disputed that recent activity in East Clare could be termed as “a spate”, explaining that there have been nine reported burglaries in the area since November 1 last. “I don’t agree that one burglary is a spate, I do believe that one burglary is one too many but I don’t agree that nine since November 1 is a spate. This is happening across the country and burglaries are an unfortunate fact of life,” Chief Superintendent Kerin said.
Deputy McNamara outlined that among the incidents to have occurred were two burglaries at houses in a estate in O’Callaghan’s Mills followed by an incident in Bodyke and an attempted break-in at a pub in Scariff.
He said he understood resources are stretched and the Clare Garda Division, like other divisions, is working under pressure but would appreciate if the chief superintendent could “give serious consideration to increasing the Garda presence and patrols, in particular, in the O’Callaghan’s Mills/Bodyke area”.
Chief Superintendent Kerin said prior to receiving correspondence from Deputy McNamara, he had been in a position to increase patrols in East Clare. He added when he received a letter from the East Clare TD, it was taken seriously and was passed on to Inspector John O’Sullivan, who is over the Killaloe Garda District. The chief superintendent said the district, which services the whole East Clare area, is currently down a patrol car and due to budgetary constraints, there will be no new cars provided to the district.
“We have managed to increase patrols with less transport but people need to understand that we are trying to manage with reduced resources, reduced budgets and reduced transport. This is going to be a struggle but we will do our best to serve the public as best as we can do,” the head garda said. 
“We will review patrols on an ongoing basis and patrols have been stepped up and are continuously reviewed. We review our patrols and focus them where things have been happening with a view to detecting and preventing crime.
“We welcome correspondence from public representatives. They attend public meetings and we have to listen to the views, both of the public and of the local representatives, and we learn from these views and put measures in place to help those communities,” he concluded.