More gardaí needed on the streets of the county, says Scahill

The brawl on the streets of Ballaghaderreen was highlighted in the Seanad yesterday. A video of the incident has been widely shared on social media with Cllr Micheál Frain describing the scenes as “appalling”.

Speaking in the Seanad, the Fine Gael Senator said he fully supported the calls by councillors Michéal Frain and Liam Callaghan “and many other local representatives for a stronger, more visible Garda presence on our streets”.

“Law-abiding citizens deserve to feel safe on their streets and in their communities on a Saturday morning when they are out doing the shopping,” he said. “The gardaí serving those areas deserve the resources to do their job. I am asking that both of these matters be raised with the relevant ministers. Rural communities deserve emergency and police services that meet their demands.” 

When contacted, gardaí confirmed that they responded to a report of a public order incident at Main Street, Ballaghaderreen shortly before 11:00am on Saturday.

“Gardaí spoke with persons present. No arrests were made and enquiries are ongoing,” the garda spokesperson said.

Separately in the Seanad, Senator Scahill also highlighted a piece in the Herald on fire services in County Roscommon.

“Those figures show that Ballaghaderreen fire station is the busiest fire station in the county, responding to 45 incidents in the past three months. I acknowledge the tremendous work of our firefighters. These figures also highlight a problem with the geographical area that Ballaghaderreen fire station has to cover. In the same timeframe, there have been 42 incidents in Roscommon town, 19 in Boyle, 17 in Strokestown and 14 in Elphin.” 

He added that now was the time to have a “serious conversation” about the reopening of Castlerea fire station.

“Geographically, it would relieve significant pressure on those fire stations.”