“Law and order is on the verge of breaking down in the county,” according to Swinford councillor Joe Mellett, while Belmullet councillor Gerry Coyle said that “thugs should be put behind bars”. These were just some of the indignant comments made by councillors at Monday afternoon’s county council meeting after a motion was put forward by Fine Gael councillor Michael Burke for the council to call on the Minister for Justice to provide more gardaí in Mayo, to fight the ongoing crime and anti social behaviour.
Following what Cllr Burke described as a “rough time in Mayo the past couple of weeks”, he said that more gardaí should be made available “so people can walk the streets without fear”. The Claremorris councillor also said that worryingly he knows more retired gardaí than those on the force, and that the recent large number of gardaí who applied for retirement “will have serious implications for the county”.
His party colleague Cllr Joe Mellett said he is “critical of the revolving prison door system”, where many recent crimes have been committed by those out on bail, and said that there would be no re-offending if penalties and fines were high enough. The Fine Gael councillor suggested that councillors should make submissions to the Department of Justice as regards the recently published white paper on crime.
Ballinrobe based councillor Patsy O’Brien said that the chief superintendent needs to “share around the manpower in the county” and said it is “nothing short of a disgrace” that rural stations have been closed. Independent councillor Michael Kilcoyne said that the Bord Snip report wants to close more stations and he opposed the free legal aid which certain “gurriers” are getting “which we pay for and they never have to pay back”.
Fine Gael councillor Gerry Coyle said that the laws need to become tougher and that “thugs should be put behind bars” — even though the Belmullet councillor said that the only difference between Mountjoy and the Burlington is that “they don’t have keys to the rooms”.
Ring to introduce home defence bill in Dáil
Mayo Fine Gael deputy Michael Ring, spokesperson on community, rural, and Gaeltacht affairs, also has crime reforms at the forefront of his agenda. He and Fine Gael deputy Charles Flanagan, spokesperson on justice, equality, and law reform, jointly introduced a Private Members’ Bill in respect of home defence in the Dáil on Thursday evening.
The Criminal Law (Home Defence ) Bill seeks to give greater protection to homeowners who confront intruders within the home. Fine Gael’s bill seeks to clarify and expand existing law and to redress the imbalance (in favour of the intruder ) inherent in existing law.
“I am delighted to be associated with this private members’ bill. This is an issue that I feel very strongly about. I hope the Government will accept the bill,” commented Deputy Ring.
