Fresh calls for added garda resources in Longford town

It comes two years almost to the week since the county was chosen as one of three pilots to improve safety with input from local communities and a raft of State agencies.

However, and despite the likes of Longford Women's Link and the Partnership itself sharing in a near €2m pot from monies seized by the Criminal Asssets Bureau (CAB), calls for increased garda resources have remained.

Community Safety Partnership member and local Cllr Seamus Butler said serious question marks as to the success of the body which was brought in to replace the former Joint Policing Committee (JPC) were growing ever louder.

“The one thing that came back from public consulatation was the need for a visible presence of gardaí on the streets of Longford and that patently has not happened,” he said.

“There are and have been very laudible things done but when the number one concern is not addressed then how can you call it (Community Safety Partnership) a success?”

A former chairperson of the now defunct JPC, Cllr Butler said the last occasion Longford saw a dedicated and targeted garda operation put in place on the streets of the county was at Cemetery Sunday in 2019.

“We had the Garda helicopter, the Dog Unit, Armed Support Unit (ASU) and a number of other units and we haven't seen the like of that since,” he said.

The long serving local politician also took issue with recent “national” publicity that greeted the rollout of a similar Local Community Safety Plan for Dublin’s North Inner City earlier this month.

“It took the Government two years to get the that plan over the line and they (Dublin's North Inner City) were promised all sorts of things but there was not a word about us,” he added.

It was a level of exposure that drew Cllr Butler to ask if “Longford citizens were any lesser than those of north inner city Dublin” as he reiterated his own determination to force the hand of government.

“In Longford, we have an acute problem and when you have an acute problem you need an acute solution,” he said.

“And until such time as we see more and a sustained presence of gardaí in Longford town, I won't rest.”