This article is from page 2 of the 2011-11-29 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
ELDERLY people in the Lahinch area are living in fear and are terrified as a result of intimidation and anti-social behaviour from local teenagers. That is the view of a community activist, who has prompted the re-establishment of a neighbourhood watch scheme in the area.
Tomsie O’Sullivan told The Clare People that several senior citizens in the Lahinch area are antagonised by gangs of youths.
In recent months, several community alert and neighbourhood watch schemes have been set up across the county. Community alerts are mainly focused on towns, while neighbourhood watch programmes feature in more sparsely populated rural areas where many of the residents have little contact with others.
One of the newer neighbourhood watch groups to be established is in Lahinch. Tomsie O’Sullivan, who is involved in forming the group, said community safety is a priority.
“The bottom line for it all is hoping to get people visiting each other and for neighbours to trust each other,” he said.
He said that educating young people is an essential part of the programme. “We are hoping to visit schools in time and make young people aware of what is happening in the neighbourhoods. Young people who are mischievous need to realise the effect their actions have on the eld- erly.”
He said that he went about setting up the programme, because, “I see too much going on. There is a lot of petty crime. There is a lot of pilfering. There is fear in elderly people. There is genuine fear there. Young people are taking advantage of this.
“Around the village elderly are fearful. It starts with playfulness. Then someone steals something from a shop and are aggressive with anyone they meet. There are elements creating havoc. Young people from 14 to 17 are pelting stones at windows and breaking them and antagonising the elderly. The gardaí have been to parents and have advised them and this helps and some people have turned around but others continue. If they are prosecuted, it could affect their careers if they want to go overseas,” he said.
He said he is aware of two rural homes that were broken into recently while the owners were attending funerals and said this leaves people in fear. “The main fear is people calling that they don’t know. Security lights are important for them,” said Tomsie.
The group intends to buy panic alarms for residents living in the area, at a cost of around € 400 each. Funding will be provided to cover most of the cost.