Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach visited Clonmel recently; I was glad to see that. I hope he walked O’Connell Street. A businessman contacted me this week due to ongoing incidents of violence, open drug dealing and intimidation on the streets. He is threatening to remove his store from O’Connell Street. He has been there for a number of years and has a successful business. The lack of gardaí, in Clonmel, Carrick-on-Suir, Cahir and all of south Tipperary is frightening at the moment. I have met the new superintendent. He knows I am raising this and he wants me to raise it. The Taoiseach mentioned 120 gardaí for Dublin. The Minister gave ten or 12 to her own county. We did not get one. We have two excellent officers out seriously injured after being violently attacked in my area in the past two or three months. Clonmel is a proud town with great business people and great people but they cannot put up with the intimidation, open drug dealing and violence in the middle of the street. There were full-scale rows blocking the street last Monday in the middle of the day and not a garda to be seen. I spoke to the sergeant, Kieran O’Regan, and the two community gardaí. They are bringing them into court and they are out the next day. The whole system is broken but the public need to be protected and they are not being protected.

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