This article is from page 31 of the 2008-01-29 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 31 JPG
CALLS have been made for a resi- dent garda to fight the drugs scourge in east Clare.
Cllr Pat Hayes asked that a member of the force trained in drug detec- tion be assigned to the area to help prevent young people from becom- ing embroiled in the evil trade. The councillor was speaking at a meeting of the Scariff Area Committee of the county council, to which a senior garda officer had been invited.
Superintendent Tony Kennelly was attending the meeting to discuss crime in east Clare.
He told councillors that “while there is a drugs problem in east
Clare, just like anywhere else nowa- days, the worst thing we could do is create a scare situation. There is not a huge problem in east Clare but the area 1S close to Limerick, Ennis and Galway which allows access.”
The superintendent said that gardai are about to embark on a programme of talks for schools on the dangers of orbs
“Drug abuse is a social problem and where young people get involved, out attitude is to try to avoid criminal- ising them the first time. We have recourse instead to options like the junior liason officer programme.
Cllr Hayes said that it would be “very important that we get a garda based in east Clare. The people who
are dealing drugs don’t see this as a social problem – they see it as a busi- en
Cllr Joe Cooney supported Cllr Hayes’ call and added that “parents are very concerned about the issue but a lot of the time they don’t know how to explain it to their children because they don’t know anything about drugs. Would it be possible for gardai to arrange a talk aimed at eyes vaee
Supt Kennelly said he would pro- vide a speaker if any parents or com- munity groups are interested.
He also updated councillors on oth- er crime issues in the area and told the meeting that it’s believed that a gang which came to east Clare from
outside the east Clare area to commit a spate of burglaries have now been caught. He also told councillors that measures which have been put in place to tackle speeding by “boy rac- ers’ 1S proving effective.
‘We set up operations to deal with this problem because east Clare was being targeted. We’re helped with a change in legislation which allows us to seize their cars if they don’t com- ply.”
The superintendent said that the overall picture for crime levels in east Clare spells good news.
“Normally at this time of year with the dark evenings, we would see a spike in crime rates but that hasn’t been the case,” he said.