This article is from page 9 of the 2011-11-01 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 9 JPG
TEENAGERS under the age of 18 have no difficulty getting their hands on alcohol in Shannon, as older people are buying it for them.
That’s according to Independent Councillor Patricia McCarthy, who told a meeting of the town’s Joint Policing Committee (JPC) last week that the issue is of concern.
“There is a certain amount of underage drinking. We can’t just close our eyes to it,” she told The Clare People .
“Some of them are getting older people to buy it for them and give them a few extra pounds for doing it,” she said.
“The gardaí and the suppliers have to be very careful about who is buying regular quantities and if there is a pattern they should be vigilant,” said Cllr McCarthy.
The meeting heard concerns about anti-social behaviour in several parts of Shannon, including Ballycasey, Rineanna View and De Lacey Park.
The chairman of the JPC, Councillor Tony McMahon (Labour) said that a joint approach is required, in an effort to deal with this.
“There was a lot of anti-social behaviour in Finan and Aidan Parks in the past and co-operation between community gardaí and residents’ associations virtually eliminated it there.
“One of the problems, in my opinion, with anti-social behaviour is that a number of people who are engaged in it are of an age where gardaí can’t bring prosecutions. They are too young,” Cllr McMahon told The Clare People .
“It takes a while to take action, but programmes like community alert and neighbourhood watch are helping,” he said.
The meeting heard that incidents of public order have reduced in Shannon.
During the first nine months of last year, there were 133 incidents of public order and this has reduced to 88 this year.
Criminal damage offences have also reduced, from 128 in 2010 to 70 this year.
“That’s a good drop,” Superintendent Peter Duff said.
Referring to the decrease in public order offences, he said, “One of the biggest reductions we had was for public order offences… The stark reality is people don’t have as much disposable income. There is a reduction in the number of people out on the streets.”
Drug searches on the streets have also reduced in Shannon – from 263 during the first nine months of last year to 217 this year – which, according to gardaí is down to the fact that there are less people out on the streets at night.