Templemore faces a staff shortage in Garda, despite the fact that the town in northern Tipperary has been home to the Garda training school for nearly 60 years.
A local politician warned that manpower in the area is now “shockingly low” when taking into account the size of the region, conscription, annual holidays, patrol routes and Covid-19.
Independent councilor Eddie Moran said that despite Templemore being in fact considered the traditional ‘home’ of An Garda Síochana, some locals are now afraid of going out at night because of anti-social behavior from criminals aware of the local garda -staff restrictions.
Last week, 53 new gardaí graduated from Templemore with a further 26 gardaí students currently in training.
However, Cllr Moran warned that Templemore Garda Station needs more resources.
“Years ago people walked the streets all night and you always met a garda. Now you can’t – (they) have no power there in town,” he warned TippFM.
Cllr Moran noted that while antisocial behavior is a problem for many Irish towns, villages and even villages, over the years Templemore has benefited in terms of security from being home to the garda college.
But he warned that times have changed.
Some locals traced the problems to the dismantling of the Templemore Garda sub-district – and merging it into a larger area that includes both Thurles and Nenagh.
Pressure on patrol areas and rosters has increased over the past decade.
“They (criminals) are probably aware of it, as it’s happening in every town and village in the country right now.
“It’s now creeping into our Templemore area as well and it’s not good enough at this time.”
“Some people are afraid for their lives – they don’t even go out after 6pm. That’s not a lie.”
“The gardaí in Templemore cover a huge area with the gardaí (officer numbers) they have.”
He said it was clearly a question of Garda’s resources and, in particular, the allocation of manpower.
“We were told a long time ago that we would have more gardaí on the beat in Templemore and the surrounding areas, but we don’t have them.”
“There are only two gardaí in the station at a time and two have to go out together in a patrol car.
“Antisocial behavior, drugs, car accidents, competitions – there are all different things they have to cover.
“Gardaí is doing a great job with what they have in Templemore.”