This article is from page 9 of the 2005-11-01 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 9 JPG
THE number of people arrested for drink driv- ing continues to rise in Clare, despite repeated warnings and images of its devastating ef- ee
Up to this weekend, two hundred and twenty motorists had been arrested for the offence so far this year. This is a ten per cent rise on the same period last year.
There were further arrests over the weekend. Up until Sunday, two motorists had been ar- rested in west Clare. On Sunday, another driver was arrested in Shannon, in the early hours.
The head of the Clare Garda Traffic Unit, Inspector Kevin Moynihan says the growing number of arrests is as a result of increased Garda enforcement, allied to the fact that peo- ple are not listening to warnings on the dan- gers of drink driving.
“It is a sizeable increase. People don’t seem to be heeding the warnings. . . and it’s also down to increased enforcement in the traffic corps,” he said.
Accident & Emergency Consultant in Ennis and Limerick, Cathal O’Donnell says while many people believe young men are the main culprits, offenders range in age and class.
“Young males are a large part of it, but I have seen people from every social class and every age group involved. It is still happening despite warnings and despite active measures from the gardai,” he said.
Mr O’Donnell said drink drivers are, on oc- casion, responsible for leaving “innocent peo- ple dead.”
Mr O’ Donnell believes that old, careless hab- its are again returning to some motorists, after an awareness campaign in recent years.
“We have personal responsibility to other hu- mans. My impression is that there was a dip a
couple of years ago, but it seems to be creeping up again.
“Tt [drink drivers] has a huge impact on our departments at weekends. Road traffic acci- dents take from our time. We don’t mind doing it but it is preventative, as opposed to a person who has a heart attack, for instance.
“It happens on week nights and at weekends, day and night and doesn’t seem to be going away, he said.
Fine Gael TD Pat Breen expressed disap- pointment that the drink driving figures had again increased in Clare.
“Obviously the message hasn’t been driven home. We must have zero tolerance in relation to drink driving. Gardai will have to reinforce their campaign coming up to Christmas and Garda resources have to be increased in rela- tion to inspections late at night,” said Deputy Dior