People of Ballaghaderreen to deliver strong message to Garda authorities

A strong message to the Minister for Justice and Garda authorities will be delivered in Ballaghaderreen this evening when people take to the streets showing their concern on increasing crime rates and anti-social behaviour in the town.

In the wake of a “serious assault” on Thursday night last/Friday morning, a silent candlelight protest will take place this evening at 5 p.m. from the car-park at St. Nathy’s Cathedral to the local garda station.

Speaking ahead of the protest Sinn Fein Deputy Claire Kerrane said: “Ballaghaderreen is our home town. It is full of many good people and families, who have been in it for generations. I think taking this stand this evening is important. It is about sending a message - we need more Gardaí in our town and we need to see them on the beat. There will be no politicking on this issue - we will stand together because Ballaghaderreen deserves better. For my part, I am blue in the face highlighting and raising the falling number of Gardaí at every level all year - this is the consequence of that,” said Deputy Kerrane.

Meanwhile, Cllr Micheál Frain reiterated his appeal for more Gardaí to tackle crime/ antisocial behaviour in the town. “This needs to be led by the people from the town. We're looking for extra guards and extra resources. This is all about the need for extra resources," he said.

“This is what this is about, it's about crime, it's about lack of Gardaí. My point is that we had eight Gardai and two sergeants 12 months ago in the town. We have a minimal amount of guards at this stage in the town.

“We are talking about Garda numbers, Garda patrols in the area. We're on about visibility out there in the towns to stop anti-social behaviour. We’re on about Garda patrols in the country to combat rural robberies.

“But there's no visibility, there's a lack of Gardaí, and particularly in Ballaghaderreen with a population that has exploded in recent years, we have less Gardaí than we had a year ago," said Cllr Frain.

As an online video emerged capturing images of a group of men in the town on Saturday night wearing dark clothes and balaclavas, Cllr Michéal Frain issued an appealed for calm.

“As a public representative in the town, we need to call for calm. We want a peaceful protest, and this is about crime, this is about antisocial behaviour and the need for extra Gardaí, ” he said.

“We need people to come together in the town. We don’t need division and we need law-abiding people to come to this silent, powerful protest.

“That's what we need to see, likeminded people to come out. We don't want truck with any other alternative motives out there,” said Cllr Frain.