‘Open season’ for criminals in County Roscommon due to low Garda numbers

The “critically low” numbers of Gardaí in areas of the county is leaving it “open season” for criminals, a local councillor has warned.

Newly elected Independent Mícheál Frain issued the warning following a recent spate of burglaries in rural areas of the county, which he said was leaving people feeling “very vulnerable and fearful”.

The Ballaghaderreen based councillor said that local Gardaí were doing their best but Garda levels in his area were at a critically low level.

“I know that there is a shortage of Gardaí nationally but in this particular area which covers Boyle, Ballaghaderreen and Castlerea, it is at an all-time low.

“The spate of break-ins that have happened in the last few weeks is ridiculous and it is leaving people very vulnerable in rural communities and towns around the country. There are not enough Gardaí on patrol, it is as simple as that,” he said.

Cllr Frain said the problem harked back to promises of extra services for the town of Ballaghaderreen in 2017. “One of the things we were promised was extra Gardaí. In fact we have 50% less now at this moment in time in Ballaghaderreen than we had in 2016/2017.

“I think there's statistics which said back in 2011 that there was something like 70 Gardaí between Boyle and Castlerea. I think this is down to 20 or 30 at this stage, which is critical.” 

Cllr Frain said he would be calling on senior garda management to address this as a matter of urgency. “Ok, we know there is an issue with recruitment nationally, they are trying to recruit as fast they can.

“But they need to make a provision now to do something, a stop gap measure, otherwise it's open season for criminals to come down from urban centres and to carry out robberies like we've seen in the last few weeks,” he said.