Garda Commissioner snub ‘flies in the face of the democratic process’ – McDonnell

THE longest-serving county councillor in Mayo has lashed out at the Department of Justice for refusing to bring the concerns of Castlebar Municipal District Council to the Garda Commissioner Drew Harris.

Cllr Al McDonnell was commenting on correspondence he received from the private secretary to the Minister for Justice regarding concerns over the lack of garda resources in the area.

Cllr McDonnell said that the letter stated that ‘these matters are matters exclusively for the Commissioner’ but it added that the Department of Justice would not relay Castlebar MD’s concerns to Commissioner Harris.

The news comes as Mayo received no new gardaí from the latest batch of 108 graduates from Templemore Garda College.

Speaking at the September meeting of Castlebar Municipal District, Cllr McDonnell said that ‘it beggars belief’ that government ministers had transferred responsibilities to unelected officials, citing the Garda Commissioner and the Office of the Planning Regulator.

“I think it flies in the face of the democratic process,” said Cllr McDonnell, who publicly expressed no confidence in Commissioner Harris at a meeting of Mayo County Council earlier this year.

The former chairman of the Mayo Joint Policing Committee called on government ministers to ‘take the power back from these faceless people’.

“There’s a continuous diminution of political power at our level and at national level. It’s about time that government ministers take the bull by the horns and make responsible decisions themselves,” he said.

His remarks were met with approval by Cllrs Michael Kilcoyne and Blackie Gavin, with Cllr Kilcoyne blasting ‘non-elected’ officials who ‘never put their name on a ballot paper’.

_{Cllr Al McDonnell}

VIOLENT DISORDER

THE monthly meeting of Castlebar Municipal District Council also heard concerns about knife possession and anti-social behaviour in the town.

This comes following an assault in a local public park that left a teenager hospitalised with serious injuries. An enhanced police presence was observed locally following the incident, and a Garda investigation remains ongoing.

Referring to the incident, Cllr Kilcoyne claimed that there were ‘more knives being carried around the town than in a butcher’s shop’.

“I know the law and order party [Fine Gael] is in government. I know that we have no gardaí, but something has to be done about what’s happening around town,” said Cllr Kilcoyne

The former Mayo Joint Policing Committee member reiterated long-standing concerns about Garda resources in the Castlebar area.

“Some nights there is only one [Garda] car [available]… there is an accident in Tourmakeady and that car is gone out and there is nobody else to cover the rest,” said the Independent councillor.

His remarks were supported by fellow councillors, with Fine Gael councillor Cyril Burke remarking: “We need more people out on the street.”

When asked by Castlebar Municipal District Cathaoirleach, Cllr Donna Sheridan (Fine Gael), if the council should outline their concerns in writing, Cllr Kilcoyne said that they would ‘actually be better off writing to Santa Clause’ than writing to the Taoiseach or Minister for Justice.

“There is no action that we as a district can do other than to highlight it. We can’t provide money. We can’t hire a policeman or a policewoman. We’re saying our area is under attack from people and there is no policing available.”

Cllr Harry Barrett said the council should write to the Minister for Justice to request ‘at minimum’ that garda numbers be increased ‘to a point where they can patrol the town on a regular basis’.

“One-hundred years ago in this town, if you look at old photos, you will see officers patrolling the streets of the town. They knew everybody, they moved people on, they knew the town inside out. Our gardaí do not have the resources to do that anymore,” said Cllr Barrett.

NO NEW GARDAÍ

AS OF June 30, 2023, there were 67 gardaí of all ranks stationed in the Castlebar area: 62 in Castlebar, three in Balla and two in Partry.

This includes 14 sergeants, two inspectors and Chief Superintendent Ray McMahon, who is head of the Mayo and Roscommon-Longford Policing Division. His office is based in Castlebar.

The Mayo News has also learned that no new gardaí have been stationed in Mayo from the latest batch of garda recruits. A small number of gardaí in the county are also on leave due to injuries sustained in the line of duty, according to one senior garda source.

A total of eight garda graduates were allocated to the ten-county North Western region, including to counties Louth and Donegal. A further ten were allocated to the South Region, 16 to the East Region, and 74 to the Dublin Region.

Retired garda and former county councillor Christy Hyland said he was ‘disappointed’ that Mayo had received no new garda recruits.

The former garda said that the government would find it difficult to reach the recommended number of 18,000 gardaí due to the number of gardaí resigning or retiring from the force.

“The guards are not on the street due to the fact that they spend most of their shift in front of the laptop. That needs to be addressed,” Mr Hyland told The Mayo News.

“They don’t join the force to be sitting in front of a laptop. They join the force to be out in their communities preventing and detecting crime and road-traffic offences et cetera.”

Cllr Michael Kilcoyne told The Mayo News he was ‘shocked but not surprised’ that no new garda recruits had been sent to Mayo. 

“The Minister for Justice clearly has no concern about Mayo. At the moment, some nights there are only a handful of gardaí on in Castlebar. There’s not much more than a handful of gardaí on in the whole county. Gardaí from Westport have to come over to Castlebar, people from Castlebar have to go over to Westport, Claremorris,” Cllr Kilcoyne said.