Crackdown sought over rise in Athlone street crime

A culture of street crime and widespread anti-social behaviour in Athlone has been strongly condemned by a local businessman and public representative who has called for immediate action to tackle the issue.

“I run my business in this town and I regularly see people blatantly and openly dealing drugs and injecting themselves in public,” said Fianna Fail Cllr Aengus O'Rourke, who added that there is evidence of ever increasing numbers of people hanging around the town “clearly intoxicated and/or under the influence of drugs, or both.” 

Referring to the fact that he has been “inundated with representations” from people who have been subjected to widespread intimidation in recent weeks on the streets of the town, Cllr O'Rourke has called for an end to what he described as the “soft touch approach” to dealing with such incidents.

"While no public representative likes to highlight negative stories about their own town or county, I have come to the point of utter despair on this matter,” O’Rourke said.

“I am now publicly calling on our local authority and Gardai to act on what could become a very damaging trend for this town, if it is allowed to continue,” said Cllr. O’Rourke. 

Referring in particular to a situation which arose in the Civic Square where a number of people were camping out in two tents over the past week, Cllr O'Rourke said staff coming and going from the Civic Centre had “abuse thrown at them” and he also received reports of “littering, swearing, fighting and public urination” in recent days.

These included a report of one alleged incident where an individual urinated against the window of the Aidan Heaving Library in full view of members of the public, including local children, last week.

“I am also aware of one local school that cancelled a trip to the library because of the people hanging around the Civic Centre and I would not be doing my job as a public representative if I did not highlight this issue and put forward proposals to deal with it,” the Fianna Fail councillor said.

“It should not have taken the Gardai a week to move these people on, they should have been moved on day one, and I am now calling on both the Gardai and the local authority to urgently act on what could become a very damaging trend for this town if it is allowed to continue,” said the local councillor and businessman.

“Everyone I meet on the street has one question – who is nothing being done? What are you doing about it? And where are the Gardai?” said Cllr O’ Rourke who said a number of local people have signalled their intention of organising a public march to Athlone Garda Station and the Civic Centre to highlight the issue of anti-social behaviour on the streets.

“Should such a march happen, I will definitely take part in it, as enough is enough,” said a defiant Cllr O’Rourke, who says it will take Westmeath County Council to pass bye-laws prohibiting the consumption of alcohol in certain public areas and to prevent people from occupying publicly-owned property, and he intends tabling proposals to this effect at next week’s meeting of Athlone-Moate Municipal District.

“The simple fact of the matter is that people want to see more ‘feet on the street’. Our Gardai need to be seen out and about around our town, and the Community Policing Model that worked so well has been abandoned by the senior echelons in Garda HQ,” claimed the local FF Cllr.

However, it has emerged this week that extra Gardai are to be deployed to a number of “assault hot spots” in cities and towns around the country amid concerns about an emerging street attack culture.

The locations where extra Gardai are to be deployed have not yet been revealed, but it is understood that the new approach to policing will be “pro-arrest” and will involve swift action against those who engage in anti-social behaviour and street violence.

Garda management believe that the upward trend in street assaults is being driven by the increased consumption of alcohol and drugs due to young people having more disposable income and they are due to launch their new strategy to combat street crime in the very near future.