Garda staffing in Athlone 'now critically low' - O'Rourke

A prominent Athlone councillor has said the number of Gardai working in Athlone is so low that the situation has reached crisis point.

Cllr Aengus O'Rourke said he was in contact with members of the force on a daily basis and was aware that there have been times when just two Gardai were on duty at the station on Barrack Street.

"In a town of 20-odd thousand people, that is just madness. Athlone station is, and has been for some time, critically low in terms of Garda numbers. In reality, Athlone needs at least a dozen additional Gardai to make any kind of difference," he said.

"A review of retention and recruitment in the force has been committed to by the Government - it can't come quick enough."

He said that although Athlone received "a small number" of extra Gardai last year, these additions to the force had since been outnumbered by retirements from the local station.

And he stated that "the sharp rise in personal attacks on members of the Gardai in Ireland" had also been reflected in recent events in the town.

"Members of An Garda Siochana in Athlone have been assaulted in the course of their work in recent weeks and months. In one case, a Garda based in Athlone could be laid-up for as long as one whole year, given the nature of his injuries, following a recent assault."

The Fianna Fáil councillor said he was hearing about criminality, anti-social behaviour and frightening instances of intimidation locally on a weekly basis.

"I have had my own personal experiences of people threatening me with all kinds of things down through the years, but it is more prevalent in recent times.

"As recently as this week I experienced an incident with a member of the public and, regrettably, my children were there to witness it," he said on Thursday last.

"Respectability and common decency in society is in decline. Aspects of society have become dysfunctional, and the root causes are clear to me. There are three: Drugs, the lack of Gardai on our streets, and the cynical use of social media platforms by some.

"Drugs are readily available in every estate, street and laneway in this town and every town and city in Ireland.

"The only way to break the vicious, vibrant, and lucrative business of drugs is through effective long-term strategic Garda surveillance of the gangs and big players involved. And, also, constant enforcement and harassment of the ring leaders operating below the big players.

"Street searches of individuals, warrants to search houses, traffic patrols etc. should be undertaken very frequently. Daily, if necessary. However, regrettably, this is not possible.

"Speaking regularly as I do to members of the Gardai, we would need to at least double the number of Gardai in Athlone to effectively undertake a widespread sustained operation against our local drug dealing community.

"Occasional hauls and arrests are very welcome, and huge work goes into these operations, but that is all they will be - 'occasional'. It is not enough.

"I have huge admiration for the men and women of An Garda Síochána. But given the extent to which they are under resourced it is no surprise that they are constantly on the back foot, and they remain, as a force and individually, very frustrated.

"As for social media, that's for another day," he concluded.