At last week's Dail Public Accounts Committee meeting, Sinn Féin TD Joanna Byrne raised directly with Garda Commissioner Drew Harris the need for a fully operational community policing unit for Drogheda .

Speaking after the meeting, Deputy Byrne said “huge strides have been made in local policing in recent years, but the foot has come off the pedal and Garda numbers deployed to Drogheda are down.

“The Commissioner needs to support the Gardaí in Drogheda and ensure they are adequately resourced to increase Garda visibility on our streets and ensure people feel safe.

“Everyone will be aware that Drogheda was the centre of a very vicious feud between drug gangs, which terrorised families and destroyed homes to the extent that it has decimated communities. Eventually it surpassed probably the lowest point in gangland history in the nation, with the torture, murder and dismemberment of a teenage boy in 2020.

“That cannot be forgotten and nor can gangs ever be able to feel that invulnerable again.

“Garda Commissioner Harris’s made many references at PAC on recruitment and how he disperses personnel among divisions.

“I believe the alignment of policing divisions under the new operating model is not working for Drogheda. The focus has moved away from the largest town in the country, with a population that continues to grow.

“The Commissioner referenced population growth as one of the contributing factors as to where personnel go. I queried why Garda numbers are down, particularly community gardaí, in Drogheda, especially considering that most of the Commissioner’s comments at the PAC, were on the significance of community gardaí and the visibility of police on our streets.

“The figures show that in 2022, there were two sergeants and 14 gardaí in the community policing unit. At present there are one sergeant and five gardaí, from what I saw in the latest figures.  

“I feel the foot has been taken off the throttle, and in time it will undermine the great work that was done under the leadership of the former Chief Superintendent Christy Mangan, the current Chief Superintendent Alan McGovern and Superintendent Andrew Waters.

“They have been crucial in rebuilding trust and confidence in An Garda Síochána among the people who live in Drogheda.

“The Commissioner didn’t have the answers to several questions I asked but he committed to reverting to the committee with the answers to several questions I asked of him.

Finishing, Deputy Byrne said “we need a fully operational community policing unit to keep things at bay and, more importantly, to keep down the barriers that have been broken down, particularly by the superintendent on the ground in Drogheda, and to rebuild that trust and confidence of the townspeople.