Dublin: Although the city of Dublin is safe, the government has also ‘confirmed’ that there are many problems to be solved. Justice Minister Helen McEntee has openly said that many problems remain to be solved in Dublin.
The Minister’s remarks came in the aftermath of an attack on an American tourist in the vicinity of Dublin’s Store Street Garda Station. The person has suffered serious injuries. The young Ukrainian actor was attacked near the Abbey Theatre. The person was also critically injured.
Following discussions with Assistant Commissioner Angela Willis’s and Chief Superintendent Paddy McMenamin of the Dublin Metropolitan Area, the Minister made the announcement.
Not enough gardaí….
There is also a strong allegation that violence is caused by a lack of Gardaí. Local political leaders have warned that certain areas of the capital are dangerous. Jim O’Callaghan, Fina Fall’s justice spokesman, called for more garda to be deployed to deal with the problems. Some Dublin streets are open to drug use and other illegal activities. All of these are threats to peace and security.
Garda numbers have not increased since 20 years ago.
O’Callaghan also suggested changes to eligibility criteria would be needed to recruit more gardai. We attempted to recruit 1000 people but only received 300 qualified applicants. The Garda still has the same number of members as it did 20 years ago. There were less than 14,000 garda officers in Ireland at the time. At the same time, the population has reached five and a quarter million. People’s representatives have warned that the situation will worsen if more guards are not present.
Will do everything possible….
The minister stated that he would do everything possible to ensure the safety of residents in the capital city. The minister said that the target of recruiting 1,000 gardai this year has not been achieved.
There were less than 5,000 applicants for the Garda in the most recent recruitment round. More people were expected to attend the next recruitment, but this did not occur. Minister Simon Harris, who previously led the department, stated that the problem was the 35-year-old age limit. The minister said that he will try to change this in the next recruitment. The minister said that he would try to bring more people into the force.
Not affected by the shortage of garda
According to the Assistant Commissioner, the Gardai arrived on the scene within seconds of the incident of violence against the American. The Assistant Commissioner clarified that many criminals were involved in the incident.
The investigation is moving along well, and all perpetrators will be brought to justice. They have asked local residents to provide the gardai with information that will aid the investigation.
The Assistant Commissioner said gardaí had carried out 10,500 patrols in the city centre area since January this year as part of Operation Citizen, and around 20,000 prosecutions had been initiated. Drugs worth €8.6 million were also seized.
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