Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yes, Deputy Mattie McGrath. In common with all Members of the House I express my sympathy to those close to Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe, particularly his wife Caroline, his children Amy and Niall, and his colleagues and friends in County Louth and the Cooley peninsula. Today reminds us all of the danger faced each day by the members of the force in their line of duty. In his remarkable sermon today, Fr. Michael Cusack noted:

It is the only profession where we ask people to dance a dance with Satan ... to come face to face with evil. To play games with people of evil intent, people who are prepared to entrap, people who withhold information, people who prolong suffering, people who are not capable of being called human beings because of the way they have treated their brothers and sisters.

In supporting the motion moved by my colleague, Deputy Niall Collins, calling for resources and support for An Garda Síochána and for recognition by the Minister, Deputy Shatter, of the importance of a Garda presence in rural communities, I do as my colleagues have done, fulfilling the responsibility we have as an Opposition party to reflect the views of people throughout this country.

Given the very limited time available to me I simply wish to report to the House some details of what transpired at a public meeting in the small Kildare village of Ballymore Eustace last Monday. I am glad Deputies Lawlor and Heydon are present because they can attest to the veracity of the report. Ballymore Eustace is one of three villages in County Kildare that will lose Garda stations, the others being Ballitore and Kill. The meeting was called by the local development association. The packed village hall contained representatives of all strands of the local community, with elderly people turning out in force. The community leaders at the top table were joined by a Garda superintendent and the young garda who is to be transferred to Kilcullen. Public representatives, both party political and independent, were out in force. Early speakers spoke with passion of their opposition to the closure of the stations and their feelings of vulnerability in the aftermath of the closure. They sharply criticised the Minister, Deputy Shatter, for his lack of engagement with communities affected by closure and his further failure to respond meaningfully to people who had written directly to him expressing their concerns on the matter.

The meeting was strongly of the view that people in the community would have to come together to protect themselves. Much discussion was had on the organisation of a super community alert system. In an example of the best approach in public service, the superintendent promised that in spite of scare resources, the area would continue to be policed by the relocating garda from his new base. He would carry a briefcase with necessary documentation and would conduct a regular clinic in the village, if a venue could be sourced. Obviously this will not be the closed Garda station. The relocating garda, who had obviously won the respect and confidence of the people of Ballymore Eustace, assured people they would not be abandoned, regretted the station closure and gave his personal mobile telephone number to those in attendance. Everybody present accepted these commitments, made in obvious good faith, but also recognised that personnel in the public service move on and there can be no certainty their successors will continue to act accordingly. Others accepted that with Garda resources continuing to decline, it might not be possible to honour the commitments in the long term. The mood of the meeting was one of stunned acceptance. Such were people's concerns that all public representatives, when they spoke, sought to allay the palpable fear of those present, not least of those senior citizens who attended.

In the general election of 2007, 31% of the people of Ballymore Eustace voted for the candidates from the current Government parties. In 2011, in huge numbers, they voted for change when more than double that percentage, some 68%, came out to vote for Fine Gael and the Labour Party. All these people who placed their confidence in the leadership of the Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, and the Tánaiste, Deputy Eamon Gilmore, continue to be disappointed by the broken promises and lack of delivery. However, the actions of the Minister, Deputy Shatter, in Ballymore Eustace, Ballitore and Kill, and in the other 137 communities where Garda stations have closed or will close, are seen to be an act of serious betrayal. It is a shame. I would have expected more of the Minister. I commend the motion to the House.

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