Local Fianna Fáil councillor, Aengus O’Rourke, has this week called on Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to resign his post for the manner in which policing in Athlone is resourced.
The elected representative expressed his concerns to fellow councillors and members of the council executive during a sitting of the Athlone-Moate Municipal District.
In an exasperated tone, Cllr O’Rourke, outlined the numerous reasons pertaining to his raised motion before the council chamber on Monday afternoon.
“In recent years Athlone Garda Barracks has been dismantled bit by bit, we don’t even have a superintendent working on policing matters in the town of Athlone anymore. Athlone has basically been downgraded to a sub-station.
“Our Garda numbers in Athlone are well below where they need to be with only two guards in our community policing unit for a town of over 22,000 people. Gardai inform me that there is a shortage of approximately 16 personnel in the station, a situation which requires urgent addressing.
“Our CCTV system is 16 years old and defunct, parts cannot be got for it anymore and it is simply not fit for purpose.
“The uniforms are not fit for purpose either according to the members of an Garda Siochana, not warm enough in winter and too warm in summer.
“Crime is escalating across all the main headings - burglaries, property, assault, shoplifting, drug activity, car theft, theft from vehicles and crime against the person - you name it, the figures are all going the wrong direction.
“The horrific high volume of deaths on our roads since Covid-19 is a national scandal. I travel the roads constantly and rarely ever see any meaningful Garda enforcement. We have 600 fewer gardai in our roads policing unit nationally than we had in 2018. Deaths are now a daily headline, and families are being devastated,” Cllr O’Rourke said.
Referencing his numerous reasons for Garda Commissioner concern, Cllr O’Rourke further noted the recent treatment of an Athlone station based garda who in “a simple act of compassion during the pandemic provided a bicycle to an elderly gentleman for exercise purposes”.
“This, in my mind, and in the minds of most right thinking Irish people was a simple act of compassion, a good deed and the right thing to do. The garda in question simply failed to fill out a form.
“For that minor failing, Garda management, in Drew Harris’s name, launched a major enquiry. A four year witch hunt was orchestrated against this decent, decorated detective. They sent in the ‘heavies’ from Dublin, the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation searching his house at 6am one morning and removing the families phones and devices. His life and that of his family were turned upside down and was put on hold for approximately four years, his career effectively ended.
“However, the real measure of Drew Harris came on the very day that the garda was reinstated to Athlone barracks. At the recent Public Accounts Committee (PAC ) meeting, he was rightly asked “was the four year prosecution of this man disproportionate”, to which Harris replied, “no, because not all the facts are in the public domain.”
“These remarks go against the disciplinary board’s findings. The Board declared the garda had no case to answer and was cleared of any wrongdoing.
“Drew Harris’ tenure at the head of An Garda Siochana has been an abject failure, he needs to go,” Cllr O’Rourke concluded.
