Reopen rural stations, and more gardaí needed in Kilkenny at peak tourist season, TD suggests

Local TDs have called on their own Government to increase garda numbers and make gardai more visible in rural Kilkenny, where people no longer feel as safe.

Fianna Fail's John McGuinness has said garda stations which have closed in north and south Kilkenny in recent years need to be reopened and remanned, and additional garda numbers are needed in Kilkenny City during the peak tourist season.

Deputy McGuinness was speaking in the Dáil on the matter of, Policing and Community Safety, where he said 'extreme antisocial behaviour' is ongoing in every single community, and it is destroying communities.

"That behaviour, coupled with the violence and drugs, is simply causing serious problems for the young people in our country," he said.

He said in Kilkenny's big rural areas, police stations have been closed, and this needs to be corrected.

"We need to have gardaí on the streets in the towns and villages to restore the confidence that people once enjoyed when they had a garda presence at that level," he said.

"In cities like Kilkenny, where the numbers boom from time to time because of tourism, additional gardaí are needed during the tourism season. That requires a Commissioner to take the initiative, support the troops on the ground, the gardaí, and ensure communities are represented.

The Fianna Fail TD also said that the new Garda structure, in line with that of the new local authorities, is not as good as the last one.

"There is not the same opportunity for input and you do not feel the same connection to the local gardaí," he said.

"All of this feeds into the notion or feeling among the public that things are out of control to a degree in certain areas of our country and most parts of our cities and towns. If we do not deal with this now and have a modern, dynamic Garda force, we will pay a price in the future."

Deputy McGuinness also asked the Minister of State to examine online crime and 'the fact that you can defame someone or a business online and get away with it'. "The Garda is ill equipped to deal with that issue," he said.

Also speaking during the Dáil debate, Peter 'Chap' Cleere said the present number of 14,100 garda members 'is simply not enough for a country of our size'.

"There are only 312 in my constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny, which is a 10% decrease in the past four years," said the Fianna Fail TD.

"This decrease has to stop. The programme for Government commits to providing funding for at least 5,000 Garda recruits in the next five years. These are badly needed in towns like Graignamanagh, Callan, Thomastown, Mullinavat, Mooncoin and Castlecomer. Lack of Garda resources is a huge issue.

"The primary focus has to be to allow Garda to become more visible in our communities. They have to be visible on the beat and that is not felt in rural Ireland at the moment, including the constituency I represent."

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