‘People afraid to walk streets’: East Donegal meeting hears fears at lack of gardai

Residents in east Donegal are expressing anger and frustration at a lack of gardai on the beat in the area.

A public meeting in Lifford on Tuesday night - close to the location of a savage attack the previous that left a man fighting for his life - heard several concerns.

The community engagement and crime prevention meeting, organised by An Garda Siochana, was one of several arranged across the Letterkenny Garda District. The meeting was planned before Monday’s brutal assault that left 26-year-old Charles Dooher needing to be airlifted to Belfast where he underwent emergency surgery.

There are fears all over Donegal about the possible impacts of the new policing model for the county. Effectively, Donegal will be split into two divisions, one managed out of Letterkenny Garda Station and the other operated from Ballyshannon Garda Station - a significant change from the current model that has Garda Districts in Letterkenny, Milford, Ballyshannon and Buncrana.

“The crime rate in east Donegal is through the roof,” one man told Tuesday’s meeting at the Clonleigh Social Centre, close to the location on the N15 where a Garda cordon remained in place at the Dooher family home. 

“People are afraid to walk the streets. You have a problem. You have a PR problem. You need to take it to higher authority and tell them what the people on the streets are saying. I am a grandfather and I am even afraid of children going to the playground.”

The man said there was frustration over the lack of gardai, but was at pains to note that his criticism was not directed at the local officers who were present.

Inspector Paul Gallagher, Lifford-based Sergeant Michael McHugh, Sergeant Fergus McGrory who is the crime prevention officer and community Gardai Catherine Callaghan and Grainne Doherty represented the force at the meeting while a number of agencies, including Strive, the Raphoe Family Resource Centre, Saint Vincent de Paul and Alone were also in attendance.

Inspector Paul Gallagher. (North West Newspix)

“If you go around three or four Garda stations in east Donegal, there are patrol cars just sitting there,” one local man said. “There is a joke in Convoy that there is grass growing up the middle of the car it sits there that long. We need to get gardai back on the streets and the patrol car back on the streets.

“If you ring Letterkenny Garda Station, you shouldn’t get put through to another province. Local Gardai know the locality and the local area. It has gone downhill since the peace process. It’s like ‘aww, it’s alright, we’re safe’, but we are not safe. That isn’t down to you, the local gardai, it is down to the hierarchy allowing it to happen. We need to get back to community policing.”

Another man, who lives in a remote area between Raphoe and St Johnston, recalled an incident where he called gardai over a suspicious vehicle near his home during the night.

He said the car pulled in at “stupid o’clock” and the driver said he was lost and needed directions. 

The concerned man, having checked the car registration, became aware that the vehicle was on false plates and made a call to An Garda Síochána. However, he was frustrated that he did not get a call back until the middle of the following morning.

Inspector Gallagher, a native of Raphoe, reflected how Castlefin Garda Station alone once had a detachment of four Sergeants and 32 gardai.

 “We are not going to get back to that level of resources in that area,” he said.

Inspector Gallagher said the Joint Policing Committee has been replaced by the Community Safety Partnership. He reiterated that the task of keeping people safe in the area is a whole government responsibility, including social workers, HSE and crime prevention officials. 

Some of those at Tuesday's meeting. (North West Newspix)

Joe Boland, a member of the Donegal Public Participation Network added: “This has been raised with the Garda Commissioner and it has fallen on deaf ears. We need our TDs and Councillors to raise this at Government level. If they don’t start shouting out about Garda resources in the county, not much is going to change. The Gardai locally and the community representatives have done all they can, but unless the Minister accepts that there is an issue, nothing will happen.”

Sergeant McGrory outlined a number of measures on crime prevention and various initiatives that are in place, including:  Community Alert groups; Hospital Watch; Campus Watch at ATU Donegal; and property marking.

“These are different initiatives that can reduce crime and make a higher risk of people getting caught,” Sergeant McGrory, who succeeded Sergeant Paul Wallace in the role last May, said.

“Crime prevention is achieved through effective and comprehensive engagement with communities, groups, businesses and individuals - we have to be vigilant for each other.”