EXTRA Gardaí will be visible across Limerick in the coming weeks in a bid to tackle the ongoing drug scourge and rising levels of anti-social behaviour.
There will be an extra 20 Gardaí on the beat in Limerick, according to Fianna Fáil TD for Limerick City and former Minister for Defence Willie O’Dea, who announced the news on social media this week.
“The Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan, has informed me that Limerick will receive 20 extra Gardaí out of the 150 recent (Templemore) graduates,” Deputy O’Dea wrote in his online post.
“This significant allocation of Garda resources is very welcome, and it follows the Minister’s recent visit to Limerick at my invitation.”
Speaking to the Limerick Post, Deputy O’Dea said the new recruits are expected to be visible “within the next two weeks”.
When asked where the graduates will be allocated, Mr O’Dea said that would be a matter for local Gardaí to decide.
A Garda spokesperson told this newspaper that allocation information will only be published “on the day of their passing out from the Garda College”, with the next ceremony scheduled for the end of August.
Cathoirleach of Limerick’s Metropolitan District, Cllr Daniel Butler, welcomed the announcement describing it as “a significant and timely development for our city and its communities”.
“This allocation did not happen in a vacuum. I want to acknowledge the persistent and united lobbying efforts of my fellow councillors across the Metropolitan District, who have consistently raised the need for increased Garda resources to address both ongoing and emerging challenges in community safety,” the Fine Gael representative said.
“The arrival of these new Gardaí will strengthen community policing, enhance public reassurance, and contribute to the ongoing work to make Limerick a safer place for all who live, work, and visit here.”
City councillors recently held a meeting with Superintendents Andrew Lacey (Henry Street) and Oliver Kennedy (Roxboro Road) who told metropolitan members that, as of last year, two Gardaí were added to street patrol in the city Monday through Saturday.
It is understood these Gardaí were redeployed from other areas of the Limerick Division, which is facing increasing resourcing demands, with no overtime for one of its largest anti-crime and drug operations in the city.
This comes amid reports of “acute addiction” to crack cocaine and heroin, with people from the wider Mid West regularly travelling to the city to buy drugs.
Local Labour TD Conor Sheehan is calling for the 20 new recruits to be based around the city centre and suburbs of Limerick.
“Limerick is at boiling point. We have had 17 shootings so far this year and none of us want to undo any of the progress, given that Limerick has come so far since the bad old days” he told this newspaper.
“Unfortunately, the lack of a visible policing presence has become a defining feature of our city of late and this can only be addressed by additional Gardaí on the streets.”
Deputy Sheehan has also written to the Justice Minister and Garda Commissioner about the approval for two CCTV schemes in Limerick, including in Garryowen.
“An application for a CCTV system in Garryowen has been on (the Commissioner’s) desk for months now and it is vital that he signs off on this for the benefit of everyone living in Garryowen,” Sheehan insisted.
“Minister O’Callaghan must also approve the business case for the live monitored CCTV cameras that were funded from regeneration prior to the wind down of that programme and I have written to him again this week.”
