There were eight knife crimes in Mayo over the months of July and August and one serious crime where an axe was brandished. Two people died, a garda was seriously injured in the line of duty, others narrowly defied death, and many families have been severely traumatised as a result of the thuggery. The incidents have left gardaí in Mayo ‘dumbfounded’. Superintendent Willie Keavney said “such a serious litany of incidents” was unprecedented, and was frightening not only for the gardaí but for the general public. He said the practice of young people going out at night with knives had to be looked at. “We are dumbfounded as to what to do,” Supt Keaveney told Monday’s meeting of the joint policing committee. “We don’t want to turn every fellow upside down looking for knives,” he added.
The attacks were condemned outright by Ballinrobe Councillor Michael Burke who complimented the gardaí but said the issue of CCTV needed to be addressed. It was his understanding that Ballinrobe, where a serious assault took place, has qualified for CCTV funding. He warned people who are against Big Brother looking down on them that if they are doing nothing wrong they have nothing to worry about. He said such a system would not need to be monitored as long as it was recorded.
Cllr Burke asked that when a new garda moves to an area a press release be prepared to introduce the garda to the local community. He said this would give the public more of a connection with their local Garda representatives.
Cllr Al McDonnell felt the present legislation was not strong enough for gardaí to deal with knife crime. He said electronic detecting devices needed to be installed in places which are frequented by young people to try to detect knives. He further suggested that gardaí should carry portable electronic detecting devices. According to Cllr McDonnell those who carry knives on their person are almost as guilty as those who use them.
Swinford councillor Joe Mellett said young people are carrying knives for their own protection — “a sad indictment on society”, he added. He also noted the number of crimes that are committed by people released on bail.
A lack of parental control is at the heart of the situation, according to Westport councillor Margaret Adams. Supt Keavney agreed that there was a lot of parental breakdown where young people were left with no parental influence or control. “This knife culture is the biggest issue we are going to have to deal with in Mayo,” he explained. As a result a sub committee was formed to start to tackle the issue. It was decided that a representative of Comhairle na nÓg should sit on the committee to represent young people.
