Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim mo bhuíochas don Cheann Comhairle as ucht an ábhair seo a roghnú. Ní thugann sé aon sásamh dom an t-ábhar seo a ardú sa Dáil sa bhealach seo. Rugadh agus tógadh mé i nGaillimh agus tá mé thar a bheith bródúil as, ach ní féidir leanúint ar aghaidh ag tabhairt cluas bhodhar don drochiompar atá ag tarlú ar shráideanna na Gaillimhe le blianta anois. Tá sé éirithe níos measa le déanaí, ach níor tharla sé inniu ná inné. Tá sé ag tarlú de réir a chéile agus ag éirí níos measa le cúpla bliain. Chomh maith leis sin, tá teachtaireacht láidir ag teacht amach ón Rialtas nach bhfuil ag tacú leis na cúinsí ar shráideanna na Gaillimhe. Tá an Rialtas ag rá le daoine dul amach, bheith ag ól agus ag ithe agus ag baint taitnimh. Níl aon fhadhb leis sin ach is teachtaireacht lom atá ann gan an comhthéacs de na cúinsí eile atá ag teastáil. Tá an drochiompar ag cur isteach ar chosmhuintir na Gaillimhe agus níl sé sábháilte níos mó. Sin na gearáin atá faighte agam.

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Browne, for being here today. I look forward to his response. It gives me no pleasure to raise what is happening on the streets of Galway. I am a proud Galwegian.

I want to see it thrive in the most sustainable and inclusive way possible. Unfortunately, that is not happening at the moment and has not been for some time. The latest in a series of assaults, where a woman has sustained life-changing injuries as a result of a firework in her eye, is just one of the many that have happened. I wish her and her family the best of luck.

What I raise today is not one issue, but what has been let arise on the streets of Galway. For example, back in August, I wrote to the superintendent and the council about Claddagh, where I live, and the removal of barriers. I do not want barriers in or around my city, but at the time it was inevitable because of the crowds congregating and drinking openly, against the by-laws. The Garda was under pressure. In a sense, I have great sympathy with the gardaí on the ground, less so with management, let me say, in the time of Covid and a time where we have by-laws that are not being enforced. We are now in a situation where the headlines in the local and national press and on the radio are screaming at us. I have here a series of complaints, from people who are genuinely interested, saying do not let this happen to our city. Some of them are born and reared in Galway and others have moved in and adopted it. They are all very rational reasonable people who tell me they do not feel safe anymore. That is an appalling indictment of my city, Galway.

One thing to come from the Policing Authority report was the wonderful advantages of having viability around police on the ground. Mr. Justice Charleton talked about the visibility of the Garda and its importance. Unfortunately, gardaí are not visible. It is a reactive policy rather than a proactive one. I want to work with the Garda, I have the greatest of respect for the force and I want more of its members on the ground, but we cannot continue with a reactive policy. There are suggestions Eyre Square might be closed off. I would not agree with that. However, in the beginning, I was in favour of railings around Eyre Square, and still am, as part of a planning process, not as part of a reactive situation. We should have had railings from day one where that park was for everyone in Galway, closed off like the parks in Dublin, but the experts at the time told us that was not possible and that we were thinking above our station - I think those were literally the words used at the time - and now here we are with problems.

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