Taoiseach told lack of Garda resources causing fear among residents in Ballaghaderreen

It comes as over 400 people turned out to an anti crime protest on Sunday evening amid concerns of rising level of crime in the area.

A large crowd of residents walked through the town to the Garda Station where a number of speeches were heard.

Raising the issue in the Dáil on Tuesday, Deputy Kerrane said like many areas in the country, Ballaghaderreen does not see a guard.

She added she was proud to call Ballaghaderreen her home town and said she was proud to stand with the people of the town at a well-organised and well-attended vigil in the town on Sunday night.

However, she said the sole purpose of the vigil was to send a clear message to this Government and to the Garda Commissioner that the town needs gardaí and they need to be seen.

Deputy Kerrane called for the Taoiseach to support her call for the implementation of the rural Garda plan which would enhance services in towns like Ballaghaderreen.

"Ballaghaderreen is a good town with good people.

"The falling number of gardaí is an issue I have raised repeatedly in this House and with the Garda Commissioner, although with him to no avail with him.

"Officially statistics tell us that there are four gardaí and one sergeant in Ballaghaderreen.

"If that, of course, was the reality I would not be raising this issue today.

"Like many rural areas, we do not see gardaí.

"That is not the fault of the gardaí themselves.

"They are under pressure and are stretched.

"I am asking for the Taoiseach's support for my ask to the Garda Commissioner for a rural Garda plan to ensure an adequate allocation of gardaí, not just being officially listed as being at a station but actually out on the ground and visible.

"There is fear in many of our rural communities but in towns like Ballaghaderreen there is also defiance and unity.

"We want positive action and we want to see gardaí out on the beat for our communities," said Deputy Kerrane.

In response, Taoiseach Simon Harris thanked Deputy Kerrane for raising this important issue and for the constructive way in which she has done that.

He said he wanted to reassure the Deputy the State takes the safety of people living and working in rural Ireland very seriously.

"I know of the strength of feeling in the community of Ballaghaderreen which she is bringing to the floor of the Dáil here.

"Preventing crime does not just mean putting gardaí on the beat although that is important.

"It also means supporting the work of the National Rural Safety Forum.

"A lot has been achieved during the lifetime of that plan but it requires that multiagency and multisectoral whole-of-government response also.

"I will convey to the Garda Commissioner and to the Minister for Justice her views on the policing needs of Ballaghaderreen and I will ask the Minister to come back to the Deputy directly," said Mr Harris.