*Gardaí on duty in Sixmilebridge. Photograph: John Mangan
A CAR BELONGING to a Garda based in Sixmilebridge was vandalised and stripped for parts last week.
While parked at the Garda Station in Sixmilebridge, the vehicle belonging to the Garda on duty was damaged with parts of the car stripped off and taken.
This follows increasing instances of anti-social behaviour and rising amounts of crime in the locality. The serving member was on-duty at the time of the incident which occurred on Wednesday March 5th, The Clare Echo has learned.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Clare TD Cathal Crowe (FF) said he was “appalled” by the incident. “I place a high value on the work of An Garda Síochána, they often put themselves in harm’s way to keep others safe and you’d like to think when they show up for work that they and their property are safe. What happened here, I find it to be reprehensible”.
Deputy Crowe met with Chief Superintendent of the Clare and Tipperary Garda Division, Aileen Magner and Superintendent based in Ennis, John Ryan in recent weeks to specifically discuss the policing needs of Sixmilebridge. “I have highlighted it is no longer a village and it is a town, combined with Newmarket-on-Fergus it has a population exceeding Kilrush, it comes third in the county in terms of population behind Ennis and Shannon. Whilst I don’t believe having extra Gardaí on duty would have made a difference on this occasion, there is a need to take this minority group of people to task and show them this a lawful country where the law will be upheld”.
As an outcome of his meeting with senior Garda personnel in the county, Deputy Crowe said he has been promised additional patrols in Sixmilebridge, extra Gardaí rostered to police the area and increased Garda checkpoints on roads approaching The Bridge. “Whilst Garda checkpoints can annoy people I don’t think law abiding people need to fear Garda checkpoints, it is to curb those living beyond the law, I would love to see an increase in foot patrols, it is a fine size town, a lot of wonderful things happen there every day of the week, as the population grows the policing needs to grow too. There have been a number of High Court incidents from there in the last few years, I hope an increased Garda presence can make a difference”.
According to the Clare TD the main anti-social behaviour issues occurring in Sixmilebridge include “drug dealing, vandalism of cars, property theft from houses, burglaries and instances of feuding”.
He continued, “I regularly hold clinics there, the clinics have become busy, they are not just coming down to talk about medical cards, housing and pensions, they are expressing concerns that there are a few people in Sixmilebridge trying to rule the roost, they attribute most of the problems to this small minority of people who are openly and activity drug dealing, I concur with that view and I live relatively close to Sixmilebridge, things happen in spates, things can peak and can pan out again, there are a number of individuals in Sixmilebridge who really need to feel the full strength of our laws and policing systems, several of them belong behind bars”.
