Garda resources not there for late nightclub opening – Hyland

GARDAÍ do not have the resources to police anti-social behaviour that will arise from later nightclub and pub opening hours, according to a Westport county councillor and former garda.

Cllr Christy Hyland has voiced concern over proposed legislation that would allow licensed nightclubs to remain open until 6am.

Under proposed legislation, licensed premises will be allowed to open seven days a week from 10.30am to 12.30am, while nightclubs may remain open until 6am.

Licensed late bars will continue to close at 2.30am.

Cllr Hyland opposed these proposals when he spoke at the recent meeting of the Mayo Joint Policing Committee, citing the extra demand on the Gardaí and other services.

“We don’t have the taxis, we don’t have the guards, we don’t have the medical backup to serve any of those [anti-social-behaviour] challenges,” the Independent councillor told the meeting.

Cllr Hyland said his local town of Westport is ‘hardly able to cope’ with the issues it has at the moment due to the lack of local Garda visibility on weekends.

“The [Garda] budget is gone up 40 percent but we can’t see guards on the street on a Saturday night on one of the busiest towns next to Galway city, in Westport, on a Saturday night, where people are milling out of nightclubs and milling out of clubs until two or three o’clock in the morning,” he stated.

Members of the Westport Business Association observed the meeting from the public gallery.

Cllr Hyland said they attended due to a lack of delivery of extra policing resources over the Christmas period in Westport.

The December meeting of the Mayo JPC heard that foot patrols and the presence of a Garda van would be maintained throughout the Christmas period in Westport to manage anti-social behaviour.

Superintendent Gabriel Moran said that assaults had decreased by 14 percent in the South Mayo policing area compared to the previous year, while enforcements for public drunkenness had risen to 26 from 17 in the same period in 2023. 

Both the Chief Medical Officer, Prof Breda Smyth, and the RSA have expressed concerns about the proposed legislation to extend nightclub opening hours.