Ms Marie Metcalfe:

I am the co-ordinator of the community policing forum near the north-east inner city. The project was established because of the lack of trust between the Garda, Dublin City Council and the community. It relates to history in my community. We set up the project to ensure we can work with the Garda and Dublin City Council and engage with the community from a community perspective. Rather than the Garda or the council, it was the community that was calling a meeting. I believe the project worked because it came from the bottom up instead of from the top down. The relationship between the project and An Garda Síochána and Dublin City Council could not get any better. In respect of changeovers in An Garda Síochána, when most gardaí with whom I have worked in the past 16 years come back into my division, there is no need to start a relationship because I know them. There is no need to ask "Who am I and what am I here for? Have I got a hidden agenda?", so it helps when I know the gardaí.

The level of drug dealing in the north-east inner city is horrendous. I feel I have gone back to when I started my job and that I am starting off again. When we began 16 years ago, horrendous drug dealing was a massive problem. We engaged with the community and the gardaí and things started to really improve. I believe this was because of resources.