This article is from page 19 of the 2013-02-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 19 JPG
THE fight against crime in Ennis has seen members of the local town council to give their backing to a proposal that aims to give an amnesty to everyone who hands over “offensive weapons” to the gardaí without fear of prosecution.
The call received the unanimous backing of members of Ennis Town Council on Monday and is now set to be taken to the floor of annual general meeting of the Clare Joint Policing Committee (JPC) that’s set to take place in the coming weeks.
Independent councillor Paul O’Shea, who is also chairman of the Ennis JPC, tabled the motion before the February meeting of the council. He called on the Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter, to introduce a knife amnesty by providing secure bins to be placed at the public reception area of Ennis Garda Station where people could hand in their weapons. Continuing, he said the bins should also be placed in churches, supermarkets, schools and youth clubs.
“The amnesty should include offensive weapons such as flick knives, butterfly knives, swords and machetes,” said Cllr O’Shea.
“As late as last October we had an incident outside the Cathedral. Caches of weapons have discovered by gardaí year on year in our town. I think it is quite serious, and this gives people an opportunity to surrender their weapons,” he added
In calling for the amnesty to be introduced, Cllr O’Shea warned that the closure of garda stations in Clare could prompt a surge in people holding weapons to protect their properties and their person.
“With eight garda stations closing in Clare – and I believe there will be further closures – there is huge concern out there about future policing,” he said.
“People are going to be driven to have weapons to protect their properties,” he added.
“There mightn’t be too many weapons brought down to the barracks,” warned Cllr Michael Guilfoyle (Ind). “I’d be inclined to keep a pick-axe to protect my property,” he added.