Superintendent denies rural pubs are being hounded by gardaí

Superintendent denies rural pubs are being hounded by gardaí


Michael Duffy

ONE of Mayo’s highest ranking gardaí has denied claims that rural pubs are being hounded by gardaí across the county. Supt Eugene Brennan, who is based in Castlebar, told the monthly meeting of Mayo County Council that gardaí in the county had a good working relationship with publicans and stayed in regular contact with them.
Supt Brennan attended the meeting to promote the Garda Síochána Policing Plan for 2009. Fourteen members of the Council were also ratified to become members of the Joint Policing Committee.
Supt Brennan, who was representing Chief Supt Tony McNamara, said his superior was a great advocate of Garda visibility and he encouraged all his gardaí to get out on foot patrol as often as they could. He also denied claims from some councillors that Mayo’s larger towns like Ballina and Castlebar were not safe at night and that burglaries are on the increase in rural Mayo.
“Burglaries are, in fact, down 20 per cent on last year so a lot of claims made by the public are their perception. We are mindful of the fact that many people think that the streets are not safe but I can assure the Mayo public that the Gardaí, through their interaction with the public, work very hard to ensure people can go where they want, when they want.”
Supt Brennan said it was also a ‘perception’ that rural pubs were being ‘hounded’ by gardaí, as claimed by Cllr Seamus Weir, who said that sometimes there was not a garda to be seen in the towns when their was ‘trouble outside the chipper’.
“I think you will struggle to find a publican who will say he is being hounded in this county. Gardaí are merely upholding the law and at the end of the day if an extra tenner is factored in by those out for a few drinks to get a taxi home, then everyone is happy,” said Supt Brennan.
Members of the Council’s Strategic Policy Committee on Cultural, Heritage, Education and Corporate Affairs recently compiled a submission to the Garda Policing Plan for 2009 and they raised issues such as the Garda reserve, the late opening of takeaways and improved public relations by the Gardaí, all of which Supt Brennan said would be looked at.