The sun may be shining brightly in Monaghan, but anti-social behaviour is casting a cloud over the town.
That’s according to Aontú Rep for Monaghan, Olivia Larkin, who says that she has been inundated with complaints from people who are having to contend with the behaviour of what she says is ‘drunken men, fighting, shouting and generally engaging in disorderly behaviour’.
She says “It’s not on; the weather is glorious, but it seems to really bring out the worst in some people.
The majority of people just want to enjoy this beautiful weather and go about their business in peace, and this thoughtless and blatantly anti-social behaviour is causing them untold stress
Worryingly, people have told me that the Guards are nowhere to be seen, even when contacted . Again, zero visibility is certainly not a deterrent to this sort of thuggish behaviour.
My colleague Senator Sarah O’Reilly was the first Politician to call on the Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan to visit communities in Carrickmacross Co. Monaghan who were living in fear due to several incidents of anti-social behaviour.
He hasn’t visited.
While Ireland holds the EU Presidency we know that hundreds of Garda personnel are being redeployed from their usual duties.
We have called on the Minister for Justice to come out and state categorically just where these Gardai are normally assigned to and just exactly how many will be redeployed .
It’s astonishing that at a time when Garda numbers are going down as opposed to going up that Gardai will be standing on street corners, effectively acting as security.
Communities should not have to pay the price for this
Falling Garda numbers coupled with ongoing incidents of really nasty and serious anti-social are not issues that can be just brushed under the carpet and ignored. To do so is grossly unfair to locals and is in fact a disservice to them.
Since 2011, more than 140 garda stations have closed nationwide despite a fast growing population and increased demand on resources. Public services remain stretched, even with extremely healthy state finances, and housing shortages persist. The government appears to be gripped by inertia and a lack of will to address these issues effectively.
For 21 years under FF and FG, Ireland has reached its lowest number of Gardaí per capita in two decades. Ireland ranks among the countries with the fewest police officers per capita in the European Union.
This situation is unacceptable to say the very least, and the people of Monaghan deserve better.
