Garda chief rejects Ennistymon crime claims

CLARE’S Chief Superintendent has called for public representatives and members of the public to be “more measured” in their comments about “upsurges in crime”.

 

Chief Superintendent John Kerin said public representatives who claim there are “upsurges in crime” need to be careful with such comments as they scare people.

At a meeting of the Joint Policing Committee on Monday, the chief superintendent said there was an element of “scaremongering” taking place in reference to alleged increases in crime in North Clare. He called on those making such comments “to assess whether they are scaring people needlessly”.

Chief Supt Kerin said he had heard comments being made by a private individual on the airwaves that Ennistymon Garda Station is “a holiday camp” and he said such comments are “belittling the work of An Garda Síochána”.

“Gardaí in Ennistymon have dealt with very serious crimes, including murders, suicides from the Cliffs of Moher, burglaries and assaults. In some cases, the members are being assaulted themselves,” he said.

He told the committee that if people are seeing instances of crime, they should contact the gardaí and they “will be proactive in addressing that”. He accepted that council representatives do hear what is happening on the ground and asked them to “let us know what you know”.

“I’d be confident what is happening in Ennistymon is not as high as what’s being portrayed and I am confident that anything that does arise will be dealt with,” he said.

He outlined in 2012 there were eight burglaries, 13 instances of criminal damage, nine instances of public order and 19 thefts in the Ennistymon area. He said in the first two months of this year, there have been four burglaries, five criminal damage incidents, seven public order instances and six thefts.

Councillor Bill Slattery, who has been vocal on the issue of antisocial behaviour and drug dealing in Ennistymon town, told The Clare Champion he stands by comments he made about an increase in crime of late. He said people are simply “afraid to report it for fear of reprisals”.

He also refuted any inference that he is involved in scaremongering. “I feel if I didn’t take the stand, the town of Ennistymon would be destroyed in 10 years time and that’s the reason I took the stand. I’m passionate about Ennistymon, Lahinch and North Clare and I wouldn’t like it to be destroyed by a minority group of people,” he said.

Councillor Slattery explained, “People were being intimidated in Ennistymon, they were being asked for cigarettes and money and if they refused, they got a box. Some were afraid to walk home at night. These people are in their 60s, these are not old people.”

He alleged there is a gang of people aged between 14 and 22 who are causing trouble in the town and he believes the reason gardaí are not aware of the situation is due to fear in the community.

“I feel these incidents are not being reported because people are afraid to report them because they are afraid of reprisals. Windows were broken in the last month and a window in Lahinch last Saturday night. I think it is being fuelled by drink and drugs that are coming into Ennistymon from our own county and are being distributed among youngsters in Ennistymon and I’m not going to back down from that.”

Councillor Slattery said while he has no first-hand knowledge of drug dealing taking place, he said the issue has been brought to his attention by locals.

“It [drug dealing] is happening on a weekly basis on the Main Street. The reports were made to me. I’m not aware of any reports to the gardaí but I am encouraging people to go to the gardaí,” he said.
Responding to this claim, Superintendent Derek Smart, district officer for the area, said there is nothing at this stage to suggest the level of drug dealing or crime as described, by way of reports or garda intelligence.

“If people want to come forward, they can come forward in total confidence. They don’t have to give their names, they can look for me or anyone in the station and we can meet with them anywhere they like and talk about what is going on. They certainly don’t need to be in fear,” he said.

He added that gardaí in Ennistymon have often employed the assistance of the divisional drugs unit and “there is no difficulty in getting assistance from the drugs unit anytime that it is needed”.

Supt Smart said he is “disappointed” that such information has not been reported and encouraged people to come forward.