Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We all know that the role of community gardaí is central to effective policing in communities throughout the State. That has always been the case but the criminal drugs feud in Drogheda, which saw people in the town of Drogheda and surrounding areas terrorised by the thugs involved, really highlighted the importance of effective community policing. When the feud broke out, we were woefully under-resourced in terms of community gardaí, as had been the case for years, and residents in the area suffered badly as a result. When people were subjected to threats, attacks on their homes and assaults, the local gardaí could not cope. The town was given short-term allocations of additional gardaí but that was not sufficient to deal with this type of feud. We now have nine permanent community gardaí, which is very welcome and has proved to be invaluable during the Covid-19 restrictions. It is vital that these gardaí remain in their posts to ensure Drogheda is never again left in such dire straits as it was at the time the feud kicked off.

An issue that remains to be addressed is that there is only one superintendent for the entirety of County Louth. There is no superintendent for the town of Ardee and none for Dundalk. That is a huge omission and it must be rectified urgently, particularly given what the county has gone through in recent years.

I commend the work of the community gardaí in Louth, who do fantastic work locally. That work can often be a very hard slog and may seem thankless at times, but it is hugely important. During the first lockdown, community gardaí had a key role in performing safety checks on vulnerable people and the elderly. They even stepped in to provide a meals on wheels service when the usual drivers were not able to do so because they were cocooning.

The pandemic has changed how gardaí do their work. It has also changed the nature of criminality. While the drugs feud in Drogheda has somewhat quietened down for now, we are, unfortunately, seeing an increase in minor assaults.

Up to the beginning of November, there had been 167 minor assaults in the Drogheda district, which covers Drogheda, Clogherhead and Dunleer. This is a 56% increase on the same period last year. Half of these assaults took place in homes, which suggests that domestic violence and other violence in the home is on the increase. Community gardaí have a central role to play in tackling crime of this type and they do so every day. This shows the importance of a strong community Garda presence for vulnerable people, especially as many people are more isolated now than they have ever been.

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